Laughing In The Dark
by Angel Anastasia
Summary: Reid and Morgan are abducted by a pair of psychopaths. rated m for later chapters. violence, language, and all kinds of goodies like that
1. Chapter 1

_just testing out a new story idea. not sure of the exact warnings as of yet, but any readers of mine should already know with the violence that is expected with my stories. anyways, plz read and review and lemme know if u would like 2 read more of this lovely new story_

The holidays were over, but it was still colder than hell outside to anyone who dared venture out onto the streets that February evening. Peter didn't even know why he was out. He left early from his house to pick up his little sister from her ballet dance class. She was barely 10 years old, and she was already telling everyone that she met that she was going to be a very famous ballerina one day. The odds against that actually happening were low, but he would never tell her that. He told her that she was the best dancer that he ever seen, and even though their parents expected Peter to take her to and from the lessons, they were always there to watch her perform on stage.

Peter was still living with his parents until he graduated from the community college he was at. He was hoping to be able to live at the dorms when he finally got to the university. His parents couldn't afford that kind of bill so he had been working a full time job plus attending classes at school. He was hoping to have enough saved up by the time he graduated to get a dorm room. If he couldn't, he was just going to have to spend all of his college years at home. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he did crave his independence.

He got out of class early that night, and since he didn't want his sister to have to leave early on his account, he decided to just wait outside. He got out of his car, and sat down on a park bench across from the studio. He pulled the blue sweater he was wearing over his hands to keep his fingers warm, but he kept his cell on his lap in case he got any texts. He wasn't expecting any, but that's when most people decided to text him. He already told his mother when he got there to pick up Clara so now it was just a waiting game. A very cold and boring waiting game.

Pete was getting lost in a daydream when somebody sat down beside him. He looked up quickly to see a guy about his age sitting next to him. The stranger had blonde hair like Peter, but it was wrapped around his face instead of Peter's shorter haircut. He was wearing a white sweater with black pants, but what stuck out to Peter was that he was wearing white gloves. They weren't the bulkier kind of gloves or mittens that people wear when it got too cold outside. These gloves looked they were designed to wear at a special occasion. Peter didn't care that much though. This guy could have just come from watching a play or something. It really wasn't Peter's business so he picked up his phone to avoid staring at the stranger.

"Hello," the stranger said to him trying to initiate some kind of conversation. Pete didn't mean to be rude, but he was in no way interested talking to some guy on a mostly deserted street so late at night. Pete couldn't even see other cars waiting to pick their kids up. It was just Pete and this stranger.

"Hi," Pete said. He kept his eyes glued on his phone like he was expecting some kind of important text, but that didn't seem to bother stranger.

"My name is Michael," the stranger said. "The sweater you are wearing looks very nice. Too bad you don't have blue eyes to match it."

For one of the very first times in his life, Pete didn't feel comfortable. Something wasn't right. He didn't know why, but something in his head was telling him to get back in the car. He was scooting over to the other side of the bench when Michael put one of his hands on Pete's upper thigh. The fabric of the jeans he was wearing separated Michael's hand from Pete's skin, but he had enough.

Pete stood up and turned to face his car when someone else came out from the shadows and stood directly in front of him. Pete bumped into this new stranger, and was shocked when the other man took a firm hand of Pete's shoulders.

"Whoa, what's going? Where are you going?" he asked Pete.

"I don't know what's wrong," Michael answered. "We were just talking and now he's trying to leave."

"What the hell?" Pete asked turning around to look at Michael who was still sitting innocently on the park bench. "You know dam well you weren't just talking."

"Did you ask him to stop?" the other stranger asked. "When he had his hand on your leg? I mean, if you didn't tell him to stop, how would he know you were afraid of touching? Did he ask you to stop Michael?"

"No, he didn't," Michael said. "I would have stopped if he asked."

"See?" the stranger said smiling. "This was all just one big misunderstanding. Did you apologize for trying to run away from Michael?"

"No, but you will get out of my way, or I will be calling the cops on both of you," Pete warned. He was done messing around.

"Go ahead, call the police," the stranger told him. "We'll calmly explain to them the situation."

Pete put his hands to his pocket to find his phone, but it wasn't there. Pete felt his heart freeze. He turned back around to the park bench and saw Michael picking up his phone. It was buzzing from a phone call, and if Pete squinted his eyes, he could just see the caller was his mother.

"Will you give him his phone Michael?" the stranger asked.

Michael nodded his head in agreement. Pete didn't trust these guys at all. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he felt trapped in between these two strangers and both of them were wearing those white gloves. He could try and run for it, but he was sure the newest stranger could outrun him easy enough. He was only a few inches taller than Pete, but he had a lot more muscle on his bones than Pete could ever dream of. The only reasonable thing that Pete could possibly do was try and retrieve his phone.

Pete took a deep breath and took a step forward. Michael didn't look like he had a gun or anything, and he was holding the phone towards Pete. All Pete had to do was grab it. Pete took another step towards his phone, but he heard something else coming from behind him. He didn't know what the sound was so he turned around only to be greeted with what looked like a crow bar. The other stranger was holding it behind his shoulder like a baseball bat. Pete's gut action told him to get the hell out of there now so he ducked down, but was too late. The crow bar swung and hit Pete on his forehead. Pete was immediately on the ground. He tasted blood in his mouth and the sharp pain traveled throughout his skull. He stayed quiet though. He kept his eyes shut and his body still.

"So that's number two right?" Michael asked. Pete heard Michael get up from the bench and walk closer to him. Pete bit his tongue to keep from crying out.

"Well, he'll be the third one we have right now, but are going to need to get rid of Jenny soon. She's just taking up space that we are going to need."

"Are we getting the others tonight?" Michael asked. Michael got on his knees next to Pete, and flipped Pete onto his stomach.

"We need to, yes," the other man said. "We should probably even do that before we get this boy back home. The sooner the better. Make sure he's tied up tight."

Pete felt his hands being forced together, and some kind of harsh material like rope was circling around his wrists. It was scratching at his skin. Pete was trying to keep calm, but if he pretended he was out of it, these two guys were going to take him somewhere else. Pete remembered reading that the chances of survival are close to nothing once the kidnappers take you, but what did these guys want? Pete only had a few close friends, and he didn't have some high paying job that comes with enemies. Pete knew one thing though. They didn't want to rob him. They just wanted to take him.

"Hey," Michael said. "This guy is still awake."

Pete opened his eyes and attempted to flip himself onto his back, but it was proving difficult with Michael still holding him down. He gave up trying to turn over. Instead, he bent his knees and managed to get into some kind of crawling position. He saw his cell phone still on the bench, and he made a frantic attempt to get to it. He only made it a few steps before the crowbar came back down on him. It once again crashed into his skull, but this time when it hit, Pete didn't wake up with a headache. He didn't wake up at all. The second attack rendered the young man unconscious, and the two strangers disappeared with him long before Clara got out of her dance class.

* * *

Morgan didn't know why he agreed to go with Reid that night. When Hotch actually offered to let the team have a day off, none of them could believe it. They hadn't had a day off in so long, and almost immediately, every single one of them made plans so when Reid came asking one of them to give him a ride to the bookstore, all of them were busy. Every single one. It was no secret that Reid's car was still in the shop, but none of them wanted to spend their precious time off work going to some old bookstore. Morgan was watching from the sidelines as Reid asked the others, and one by one, they gave him their excuses of why they couldn't take him there. By the time Reid got to Morgan, disappointment was already written across his face. Morgan did already make plans. He made plans probably two seconds after Hotch told them, but he couldn't leave the boy genius hanging like that. Morgan agreed to take him later that night so Morgan still could have some kind of social life, and Reid happily agreed.

Morgan picked Reid up after 8pm, and drove Reid all the way to some mom and pop bookshop that didn't even sell coffee or cakes. Morgan got bored after browsing around the store for 5 minutes, and went outside to the car to wait for Reid there. He kept expecting Hotch to call him with some last minute case, but his phone remained silent. Reid didn't come out of that store until half an hour later, but Morgan was happy to see the kid carrying a bag of books that he picked out. He would read them all in just a few minutes, but that's how Reid was. That kid loved his books. Reid pulled one of the books out of his bag when he got closer.

"I can't believe they had it!" Reid said. "I've been looking for this book for six weeks now, but every time I find a store that has a copy, it's gone before I get there."

Morgan looked at the book, and he swore the title of the book was in a foreign language, but it was probably just strange printing. He shrugged and turned back to the car.

"You really need to get out more kid," Morgan said.

"I think we are both out more often than we are home," Reid said.

"You know what I mean," Morgan said. "What are your plans for later tonight then?"

"Um," Reid said looking down at his bag. "Reading."

Morgan laughed. "Okay kid, I'm taking you for a drink."

He was opening up the car door on his side when he noticed what looked like a teenage boy walking towards them. He was wearing a white sweater with black pants on. His dirty blonde hair hung around his face, and he kept his blue eyes on his feet until he was only a few feet away from them. Morgan didn't think much of it. The only thing that struck him as odd was the boy kept his hands behind his back. He glanced at Reid to see if he had any ideas about this new kid, but Reid shrugged. Morgan shut the door to his car and went back to the sidewalk.

"What's wrong kid?" Morgan called out. Morgan always had a soft spot in his heart for teenagers, and if this kid needed help, Morgan was there.

"Sorry to disturb you, but do either one of you have spare money? I'm missed the bus," the boy told them.

Reid pulled out a dollar from his bag and handed it to the boy. Morgan found two dollars in his back pocket, and gave it to the kid as well. The boy took the money and counted. Morgan thought it was strange he was wearing white gloves that didn't look like they were meant to handle cold weather.

"Do you have any more? It's a long way home."

Morgan hadn't ridden on a bus in a very long time, but he was pretty sure that's not how they worked unless the kid had to get on a second bus or something.

"I'll just give you a ride," Morgan said.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a bother," the boy said.

"It's no problem at all," Morgan said looking back at Reid. This kid was weird. There was no getting around that.

"Great," he said smiling. "Do either one of you have a phone I could borrow? I need to call my mom and let her know I'm coming."

"Sure," Reid said. He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to the kid. He didn't say anything when he stepped back besides Morgan, but Morgan could see a million thoughts buzzing through his mind.

The kid smiled at them, and turned around to make his call.

"I think he wants something else besides a ride," Reid whispered.

"I don't know," Morgan whispered back. "How old does he look? I think he's still a teenager."

Reid leaned over to whisper something back when the kid turned around without the phone in his hand. Reid licked his lips nervously and stepped towards the kid.

"I'm so sorry!" the boy exclaimed. "I don't know what happened. I was talking, and it must have slipped." Reid ran over to a puddle in the gutter, and bent over to retrieve his phone. It was dripping with dirty water. The screen was black and no matter how many times Reid tried the power button, it wasn't working.

"Oh, what did he do now?" another voice asked.

Morgan turned around to see another man. He was taller than the blonde kid, but their blue eyes looked very similar. He had short brown hair, but he was wearing the exact same type of clothing. He even had those damn gloves on. Morgan looked back at Reid. Something was very wrong. Morgan put his hand against his gun and wondered if Reid had his.

"I didn't mean to," the younger of the two complained. "The phone just slipped out of my hands. I said I was sorry."

"It's good that he apologized. He can be a clutz sometimes," the other guy explained.

"They said they can give us a ride home," the younger one said smiling.

Morgan didn't like this at all, and it looked like Reid was getting more nervous by the second. Reid stepped back onto the curb when the teenager grabbed Reid by his hair and forced him back on his knees. Reid didn't get the chance to fight back because it happened so quickly. Reid's cell phone fell out of his hand along with his bag of books. His messenger bag would have joined the pile if it wasn't around his neck. The boy genius probably didn't even know what was happening until the teen had a blade against Reid's throat. Morgan pulled out his gun and aimed it at the kid holding Reid.

"You saw how he moved," the teenager said. "He was trying to hurt me."

"He was moving quickly," the other stranger agreed.

Morgan was sick of this crap. "Let him go now. I'm not kidding."

"I wouldn't threaten him," the guy behind Morgan said. "I mean, he is holding a knife and you must admit that your friend was acting very irrationally."

Reid's hands were raised up near his head, but Morgan couldn't get a good shot. The teenager was virtually hidden behind Reid. The only clear shot Morgan had was the knife over Reid's neck. Morgan had to wait.

"Put the gun down and I'll let him go," the teenager told Morgan.

Morgan wasn't bargaining with idiot kids that had access to weapons. "Let him go and I won't shoot you."

The kid laughed. "You don't think I'll cut him? Here. Watch closely."

The teen pushed the blade deeper against Reid's neck, and Morgan saw a thin line of blood seep out from underneath the knife. Reid was trembling, but this brat was serious. He really did just cut Reid.

"Want me to do more?" the teen threatened.

Morgan wouldn't mind so much if it was happening to him, but there was no way in hell he would put Reid through that. He reluctantly put the gun down in front of him. He didn't know what he was expecting the kid with the knife to do, but the odds were against him just letting Reid go. Morgan took a step back to show his surrender, and the kid loosened the grip on Reid just a little.

Reid looked grateful that the knife wasn't cutting him, but when he looked at Morgan; his big eyes grew even bigger. "Mogan! Watch out!"

Morgan didn't have time to turn around. Just after Reid's warning, something heavy was slammed into the back of Morgan's knee. Pain erupted at the site of the impact and Morgan fell on the sidewalk. What the hell just hit him? He tried turning around, but every little movement was pure agony. He was pretty sure that his leg was broken. His attacker strolled out from behind him holding a crowbar in his right hand. He casually picked up Morgan's gun. He pointed the gun at Morgan, but then changed his mind and aimed at Reid.

"Take off the purse," he told Reid.

Reid took off his messenger bag painfully slow, and closed his eyes when the teenager grabbed it from him. Without waiting for permission, he dumped the contents of the bag into the street. Papers scattered everywhere, but the only thing that the teen showed any interest in was a pair of handcuffs that fell near the phone. Morgan's attacker laughed when he saw it.

"You two are sure into some kinky stuff," he told Morgan. "I'm not here to judge, but handcuffs are very useful." He went back beside Morgan who was still lying on the sidewalk, and pointed Morgan's own gun at his head. "Hands behind your back skinny guy."

Reid locked his eyes for Morgan, but there was nothing Morgan could do. Reid put his hands behind his back, and allowed the teenager to handcuff him. Morgan tried standing up when the teen pulled Reid to his feet, but Morgan's leg wouldn't support his body and he fell back down. The teen checked Reid's pockets to make sure he wasn't concealing a gun, and when he was satisfied that Reid wasn't armed, he gave a thumbs up to his partner.

"The five of us are going on a little ride," the guy with the gun said. Morgan was confused because there were only four people there. "Pretty sure you wouldn't be interested in looking out the window during our trip, but don't worry. We have that covered."

Just like that, the man pulled a black bandana out of his pocket and wrapped it around Morgan's head. With that cloth on, Morgan couldn't see anything and he didn't like that at all. He assumed they did that to Reid as well, but Morgan didn't hear anything coming from Reid's mouth. Morgan heard a phone drop to the cement, probably his own, and the sound of footsteps hurrying away. Morgan didn't know what he was hoping for, but all of the faint hope he once had was gone when he heard a car pull up beside him.

"You need to stop this," Morgan tried reasoning with them. "Now."

Morgan didn't get an answer. He heard the car door open, and someone being thrown inside. He knew this was Reid. He didn't need to see to know that much. One of the attackers took a firm hold of Morgan's eyes and forced them behind his back. He wasn't locked in place with handcuffs, but with some kind of rope that they died so tightly around him that his circulation was nearly cut off.

When the rope was securely fastened around his wrists, somebody lifted him up and pushed him into the waiting car. He fell face first into Reid. The door slammed behind them, and Morgan struggled to get off of Reid. It was hard without the help of his hands and both legs, but he managed to sit up. His leg hurt like hell.

"Reid? Are you alright?" Morgan fanatically whispered.

"There's someone on the floor," Reid whispered back.

Morgan hadn't noticed, but the second Reid told him, he moved his good leg around, and sure enough, there was somebody on the floor. The body wasn't moving when he nudged it, but the body was still breathing. Morgan was grateful the person wasn't dead, but they were clearly dealing with psychopaths. He didn't think Reid was hurt that badly, but he knew that if they were capable of doing that, they were capable of killing. The abductors got in the car a few minutes after Morgan, and all the doors were locked when the engine turned on. Morgan was sure that it wouldn't be long before the rest of the team found Morgan's car and Reid's broken cell phone. If these guys wanted Reid and Morgan alive during the abduction, they weren't going to be killed immediately at the second location. Morgan just needed to find out what the perpetrators wanted and how get Reid away from them.

 _dont forget to review guys and lemme know ur thoughts. till next time! xoxo_


	2. Chapter 2

_hi guys! chapter 2 of laughing in the dark right here. i still have no idea where this story is headed, and how ruthless these two new unsubs will be. this is the first story ive written where the team doesnt know exactly where morgan and reid went so that is fun. but like i said, im still finding out about the unsubs and how they work, but once they tell me, this story will b perfect_

Hotch was glad that he was able to give his team some off that Friday. They had been working nonstop it seemed for the past month, and all of them needed a break. He knew it wasn't going to last long, but he enjoyed every second of it while he could. He spent most of his night watching cartoons with Jack, and he was embarrassed to admit that he fell asleep halfway through the second movie. He wasn't aware of how tired he really was. He was known to working himself to the breaking point, but he never once wanted to miss out on spending some time with his son. He didn't know if Jack even noticed that his dad fell asleep, but Jack didn't wake him up. Hotch probably would have slept the entire night through if his phone didn't start ringing. He jerked himself awake. The second movie they were watching still wasn't over yet, and Jack didn't seem concerned about the ringing phone.

Hotch excused himself and went to the kitchen so he wouldn't disturb the movie. The caller was Strauss so he knew this call couldn't wait.

"Hotch," he answered. He went to the pantry and found a bag of popcorn that he could heat up. Eating a little might help him wake up. He wasn't planning on falling asleep again.

"I'm going to need you and your team here immediately," Strauss said. "There's been two confirmed kidnappings in just the past few hours. The kidnappings were only miles apart, and not far from the office."

"How do we know they are from the same unsub?" Hotch asked. He didn't want to go back to work tonight.

"Same things found at both scenes," Strauss said. She sounded impatient. "Both left cars behind. Cell phones found near the cars. Blood was only found at one of the scenes, but we can't find any trace of where they went."

"Are they the same type of victim?"

"32 year old female. Not married. Worked as a nurse at the emergency room. She was last seen leaving work to see a movie. Her car was found at the back of the parking lot at the theater, but she never purchased a ticket for a movie. Second confirmed abduction is 21 year old male. Not married. Worked at fast food. Told his mother he was going to pick up his sister from dance class. His car was found near the studio, but he was gone."

They didn't sound anything alike to Hotch, and it could easily be two separate cases. The woman might be browsing at the mall and the kid might have lost track of time because he ran into a friend, but Hotch wasn't going to question Strauss.

"Please get here soon." Strauss hung up.

Hotch wasn't looking forward to telling Jack that he was leaving, but he didn't have a choice. He decided to call the team up before he left so they could all get there around the same time. Rossi and Prentiss both picked up on the first ring. They sounded just as excited as he was about getting another case, but these people needed their help. There was no denying that if this woman and young man really were abducted, their lives were in danger. J.J. and Garcia told Hotch that they would be there in 20 minutes, and Hotch was already in his car. The only ones who didn't answer were Morgan and Reid. He remembered that Morgan gave Reid a ride to a bookstore or something. Hotch didn't think much of it, but he was still expecting them to show up together in less than an hour.

By the time that Hotch got to the office, Garcia was already set up and ready to go. She had photos of the missing up on the screen, and Rossi had the points where they were taken circled on the map. Hotch was only waiting a few minutes before J.J. and Prentiss arrived. J.J. look she had just been woken up from a nap. He was sure that even if the others weren't sleeping when they got the call, they weren't far from sleep. Morgan and Reid were the only ones not there. He was sure they were on their way. If they didn't come in half an hour, Hotch would call them again.

"Are we waiting?" Garcia asked.

"No, start without them," Hotch said. They didn't have time to wait.

"Ok then," Garcia said standing up. "Two abductions." Garcia put a photo of a woman on the screen in front of them. She had shorter brown hair, about shoulder length, and brown eyes. She had a pleasant smile in the photo. "Sarah Nelson. 32 years old. She started working as a nurse after she graduated college. She's single, but she is dating one of her co-workers. From what I could gather though in the few minutes I had before you guys came in, she is just an average person. She was making car payments, but she's not majorly behind in any debt."

"Was anyone angry about her dating the co-worker?" J.J. asked.

"Not from what I could find," Garcia said. "They both had pictures of each other all of their social network pages, and they are a super cute couple."

"Okay, who is the second abduction?" Hotch asked. Maybe Garcia was able to find a connection between the two that Hotch missed.

Garcia changed the photo they were looking at to that of a boy. He was a skinny kid with messy blonde hair and brown eyes. He didn't look anything like Sarah Nelson. "Peter Boyle. 21 years old. He was attending a community college. Doesn't look like he decided on a major yet. He was working at a burger place which isn't all that exciting. He's single. Lives at home with his parents and little sister. "

Garcia moved Peter's picture to the side so the team could see the two missing people side by side. Obviously, the unsub didn't have a type that Hotch could narrow down. "Sarah Nelson was last seen around 6pm. She was meeting up with her friends to see some movie, and she never showed up, but her car was in the parking lot. Peter Boyle was picking up his sister from her dance class around 8pm. His car was parked on the street, but he was nowhere to be found."

"How do we know these two cases are related again?" Rossi asked.

"They were both taken from the same area," Garcia said. "The movie theater was just about three miles from the dance class. They both had their cell phones, and both phones were found near the cars. I couldn't find any footage of the abductions, but there was blood in front a bench where Peter Boyle was taken."

"Did they know each other?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't think so," Garcia said.

"So this is unsub was just waiting to find victims who were alone and of low risk in terms of being able to fight back," Rossi concluded.

"Ok," Hotch said standing up. Morgan and Reid still hadn't called him. "Rossi and Prentiss, go to the Peter Boyle scene. I'll go with J.J. to meet with the sheriff, and I was going to have Morgan and Reid go to the Sarah Nelson scene."

"I'll try calling them," J.J. volunteered. She excused herself while Hotch looked closer at the two missing people. They both had brown eyes, but that was as far as the similarities went. Rossi was right. The unsub hadn't been stalking these victims for weeks or thoroughly planned out the abductions. These people were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

J.J. came back looking slightly alarmed. "Neither one answered. Spence's phone went straight to voicemail and Morgan's phone rang about five times before voicemail."

Hotch felt more alarmed than J.J. felt. This wasn't like them to ignore phone calls. Something had to be wrong. "Okay, J.J., you go meet with the sheriff. Prentiss, you still go look at where Peter was abducted. I'll go with Rossi to find Morgan and Reid. Garcia, can you track their phones?"

"Yeah," Garcia said. "What do you think is wrong?"

"It's probably nothing," Prentiss said. "Everyone loses track of their phones sometimes."

Hotch nodded, but he didn't think that was the case. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut that he couldn't just shake off. A little voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to stop talking and go find Morgan and Reid right then and there. Garcia sent Hotch the locations of their phones, which were at the exact same spot, and Hotch left with Rossi to find them. He was sure they were okay. They had to be okay.

* * *

The car ride shared between Morgan, Reid, and the figure on the floor was silent. Their captors didn't say one word, and even though Morgan wasn't counting the minutes, they weren't in the car that long. When they parked, the captors got out of the car and took Morgan and the others to their new location one by one. Reid was the first one they took, and while they were gone, Morgan tried in vain to get blindfold off. He was sure it was possible to do even with his hands tied up, but he was nervous. He didn't know what they were doing to Reid, and that scared him more than any pain they put him through. When they came back, they didn't get Morgan. He felt them take the person on the floor instead. They slammed the door behind them, and Morgan was left alone. He struggled some more with his restraints, but they were on just too tight. He would need help. Maybe Reid would be able to get them off.

When they finally came for Morgan, they weren't gentle. He was pushed out of the vehicle, and landed on his broken leg with a loud grunt. He was picked up by one of the men, and dragged through some kind of house. His attacker didn't say anything as they went down some kind of hallway. A door was opened, and Morgan was thrown inside. He fell down a few steps and landed on a carpet. The door was shut, and he heard it being locked from the other side. He immediately rubbed his face on the carpet and twisted his head around, and it only took a few seconds for the bandana around his eyes become loose enough to fall off.

Morgan sat up and looked around the room. Reid was near one of the walls, and he was working on getting his bandana off as well. If he couldn't get it off, Morgan would find a way to help him. All of them needed to see. The room looked like a den in an average sized home. The carpet was a dark maroon color, and it was probably nice at one time during its existence, but it was currently stained with questionable material. There was a large wooden bookcase that was empty except for a few, small books and there was a yellow couch in front of a television. To Morgan's surprise, the television was actually on. He didn't know what the show was, but it wasn't calming his nerves. There was a matching recliner near the sofa, and there were four steps behind Morgan leading up to another room. He already knew that the door in front of the staircase was locked.

He shifted his focus as to who was in the room with him. He knew Reid was there, but who was the figure on the floor in the car? The first person to catch his eyes was a woman lying on the couch. She was sobbing loudly into a pillow and rolling around so much that it was a wonder how she managed to stay on the couch. She was wearing a red skirt with stockings and a black sweater. If she was wearing shoes at any point during the night, they were long gone. Tangled brown hair fell over her face, but Morgan couldn't see any blood on her. Other than her fear, she was alright. Near the bookcase, Morgan spotted a boy. Morgan could just see a red bump underneath his dirty blonde hair, but his eyes were closed. His body was slumped over like he was still passed out, and Morgan concluded this was the figure by their feet. He was wearing a blue sweater, jeans, and black tennis shoes. Just like the others, his arms were pulled behind his back. The first task on Morgan's list was to get all of the bandanas away from their eyes. They needed to see.

Morgan knew that he wasn't going to be able to stand up on his own anytime soon, but that didn't mean he couldn't move. He got on his elbows and used them to scoot across the floor towards Reid. As soon as he got inches away from the boy genius, Reid got his bandana off and was analyzing their situation in his mind.

"Where are we?" Reid whispered.

"Your guess is as good as my guess," Morgan answered. "Looks like a house."

"Four of us in here, and I heard that door lock when they left too. Did they say anything to you when they brought you?" Reid asked.

"No," Morgan said. "They were quiet, but we should probably help these people out." He motioned to the people who were still struggling in their restraints. Even though Morgan couldn't walk, he was still free enough to help them get off their bandanas. It would be more difficult for Reid in those handcuffs, but Reid didn't argue and got on his feet and headed for the blonde boy. Morgan got on his knees, and even though it hurt like hell, he got himself in front of the couch next to the woman.

"It's okay," he whispered to her. He used his arms to pull himself on the couch next to her, and as carefully as he could, he took off the bandana. His eyes found hers, and by the grace of God, she didn't scream. She got into a sitting position, but scooted to the far side of the couch.

Morgan looked over at Reid, and somehow, Reid got the bandana off of the blonde kid. Just like the lady, the kid retreated to a corner after he got his sight back. "Please don't hurt me," the kid pleaded with Reid.

"You're going to be alright," Reid assured the boy. "What's your name?"

"I'm Peter," the blonde said. "You're not one of the guys who took me. Who are you?"

Before Reid could answer, the door slammed open. Morgan turned around, and the woman on the couch with him scooted closer to him. None of them wanted to be alone in this. The first one in the doorway was the older of the two unsubs. He was tall with mousey brown hair, dark eyes, and a narrow face. He was clean shaven, didn't have any blemishes on his skin, and his teeth were straight. Morgan noted he was wearing the same outfit he was during the abductions complete with the white gloves. The second unsub was a very steps behind the first one. This guy was shorter by a few inches, but he wore an identical outfit and had the same damned gloves. He had dirty blonde hair that hung around his face, dark eyes, but he had a rounder face. Morgan couldn't tell if these two were related or not. Unlike the first guy, the second one walked in with a corndog in his hand. He shut the door behind him while the older unsub looked around the room.

"Glad to see that we are all becoming friends. Isn't that nice?" he asked the group. "I think it's about time that we all introduce ourselves. What do you guys think?"

He didn't give them a chance to answer. He pulled Reid to his feet using Reid's jacket, and walked him over to the couch. He pushed Reid on the couch next to Morgan, and repeated the action with the blonde boy named Peter. The kid was placed next to Reid. Their abductor sat in an armchair across from them, and he leaned forward to study their faces. It was unnerving. The younger one sat down next to his unsub buddy, and he was still eating on that corndog.

"Any of you guys hungry?" he asked them. "I don't know what's in the fridge."

"Whose house is this?" Reid asked.

"What makes you think we don't own this house?" the older unsub asked. He was smiling pleasantly at Reid.

"You're wearing gloves to hide your fingerprints," Reid pointed out. Morgan hadn't even thought of that. "He doesn't know what kind of food is in this house other than what he is currently eating, and there's another body behind the television."

"You are the smart one," he replied clapping in his hands. "Okay. Now, we are all going to say our names and something interesting about ourselves. Like we did back in school. I'm sure you all remember how. Let's start with the lady. Remember, your name and something interesting."

She looked at Morgan, but he didn't know what to tell her. He was still trying to get a good look at the body behind the television. "Sarah Nelson. Um, I have a cat at home with one blue eye and one brown eye."

"What color is the cat?" the younger unsub asked.

"She's black. Her name is Salem," Sarah said. Her voice was cracking, but she was doing a pretty good job at keeping calm under the circumstances.

"See how easy that was?" the older unsub asked. "You're turn Mister FBI agent. The younger guy was calling you Morgan. Am I right?"

"Yes." Morgan said.

"Okay, let me guess…Morgan Smith? Morgan Turner? Morgan….um… What was the interesting thing about you?"

"He already said he worked for the FBI," the younger unsub said nudging his friend.

"Okay, right…" he said. "I'll come back to you Morgan. Who do we have next?"

"This isn't a joke," Morgan said firmly. "I really am a federal agent, and you need to stop this right now before things get even worse."

"Worse how?" Michael asked. He took a big bite out of the corndog, and stared at Morgan. Morgan was really beginning to hate corndogs now.

"I'm sure neither one of you want to spend the rest of your lives in prison," Morgan said. "That's exactly what's going to happen to you if you don't let us go right now."

"I don't think prison sounds like fun," Michael said. He broke eye contact with Morgan, and took another bite of his late dinner.

"Like I said earlier before I was rudely interrupted, who is our next buddy?" Anthony asked.

Reid looked terribly uncomfortable, but he looked both unsubs in the eye. "My name is Tom Carey. I like reading more than watching television."

The older unsub clapped. "Interesting, interesting. You're turn kid!"

Peter looked at Morgan, and took a deep breath. "Peter Boyle. I have two dogs that sleep with me on my bed every night."

"Excellent," the older unsub said. "Now we should introduce ourselves as well. After you dummy," he said rudely nudging his buddy.

"My name is Michael," the dirty blonde unsub said in a rather quiet voice. There was no question who was the dominant of the two.

"And he obviously likes corndogs," his friend finished off for him. "My name is Anthony, and let me think…Something interesting about me…I'm not afraid of the dark. Alright, who wants to play a little game?"

Michael raised his hand, but none of the others answered. Morgan was still trying his best to profile his guys. He was going off the wild assumption that they were brothers, but even if they weren't, the younger guy had a strange loyalty to the other one. There wasn't a doubt anymore that these two killed before, and that woman behind the television wasn't their first victim. They thought this through from the location down to their fingerprints. They weren't going to take any chances, but were the victims just random? It didn't seem like they had a type.

"Okay…game it is," Anthony said when no one said anything. "I'm thinking of a number one through ten. There are four of you so I'm sure one of you will guess it. Let me tell Michael my number so you can tell I'm not playing favorites." He put his gloved hand to Michael's ear, and it did look like he whispered something, but Morgan didn't hear anything. "Ok. You all ready? Let's go in the same order we did last time starting with Sarah."

Sarah was biting the inside of one of her cheeks out of some kind of nervous habit. "Three," she finally said.

"Alright. Morgan Eastwood. Your turn. Eastwood sounds kind of cool, right? Like Clint Eastwood, but Morgan Eastwood. I like it."

"Ten," Morgan said. He didn't care what these idiots thought his name was.

"Okay, Thomas," Anthony said.

"One," Reid said without hesitation."

"Last but not least. Pete, what's your number?" Anthony asked.

"Six," Pete answered.

"Very good job to all of you, and I thank you so much for playing," Anthony said standing up. Morgan felt his body tense up. Something was wrong. "Sarah won this round, but don't worry my friends, your turns will come." Without any warning, Anthony pulled a small gun out from a back pocket and aimed right at Sarah's forehead. He fired, and in less than a second, the bullet was inside Sarah's head. Blood splattered over Morgan's cheek and neck as her body fell back against the couch. Peter screamed.

"We will have to continue our games later if that's alright with you," Anthony said putting the gun back out of Morgan's sight. "Guess good old Salem isn't going to see her mommy again," Anthony said laughing. That laugh was the scariest thing Morgan heard all night. "We should probably put these bodies somewhere before they start stinking up the room. Am I right?"

"What was the woman by the television's name?" Reid asked.

"Don't remember," Michael answered. "Think it started with a T…Tatiana maybe?"

"Okay Michael, you can get Miss Tatiana while I grab Sarah," Anthony ordered. "And Morgan Eastwood, there's a blanket or something on the couch. You can probably use that to clean your face off with. I don't think Tatiana will mind."

Michael didn't argue. Morgan thought about attacking Anthony while he was taking the body away, but he decided against it. There was too much at risk if his plan failed. He was going to have to come up with a better plan with Reid. He focused his attention on Michael dragging the body of a young woman away from the television. She was wearing a blue sweater and a darker colored skirt with tights and boots. She looked very tall, taller than Michael, but was more on the thin side with delicate features. Her dark auburn hair was tangled on her shoulders, but Morgan didn't see a bullet hole anywhere on her head. He let his eyes wander down, and finally spotted three bloody stains just around her chest. She didn't look anything like the others that these guys brought to this place, and either Michael prefers stabbing to shooting or they don't rely on one type of murder. Their victims were random and the types of deaths were random.

"She was very pretty, wasn't she?" Michael asked Morgan.

Morgan didn't say anything. Anthony was already up the stairs with Michael dragging Tatiana not far behind. "You sure you guys aren't hungry? There was more corndogs, and I think there was bread and stuff if you wanted some kind of sandwich," Michael said. He was really intent on feeding them, but once again, they stayed silent. Michael shrugged, and finished getting up the few steps. He set her body outside the doorway first, and when he left, Morgan heard the door lock behind him. Just outside the door, Anthony started laughing.

As soon as it got quiet, Peter jumped to his feet and tried running. He fell after a few steps, but he crawled as fast as he could to the bookcase and threw up. When he was done, he turned back to face them. He was breathing heavier, but he didn't look sick.

"Sorry," Peter said. "I didn't think he was going to ever finish eating that corndog. Why did he keep wanting to give us food? And why did the other guy shoot that lady?"

"I don't know kid," Morgan said. He reached behind him, and found a maroon colored blanket that Anthony was talking about. He wiped his face with it, and put it aside. He didn't mind blood. He just didn't want it on his face. "What are we dealing with Reid?"

"They've been doing this for a while," Reid said looking around the room. "Anthony is the mastermind. Michael would probably walk off a cliff if Anthony said it was a good idea, but they had this planned out perfectly. They knew where they were going to keep us, and they already knew one of us was going to die before they left."

"Your name is Reid?" Peter asked.

"Spencer Reid."

Morgan hated that Reid was here. He swore the boy genius could write a huge book on how many times something went terribly wrong during his time at the BAU. His life would have been so much simpler if he chose a different path. Reid wouldn't admit it, but Morgan saw fear in the younger man's eyes. Anthony and Michael were clearly on a different level of crazy than Tobias Hankle, but they were just as dangerous and Reid was in handcuffs. The only difference was that when he was with Henkle, he was alone with those video cameras. This time around, Morgan was with him and he would be damned before he let something happen to Reid.

"You gave them a fake name?" Peter asked with wide eyes. "That's genius! I wish I thought of that. What branch of the FBI do you work for sir?" Peter asked looking at Morgan.

"BAU," Morgan said. "We both do." As much as he wanted to continue amazing the kid, they had work to do if they were planning on getting out of there tonight.

"So are you guys partners or do have a team?" Peter asked. "Is your boss going to come looking for you guys if you don't answer the phone?"

Morgan wanted to say that Hotch and the others knew by now that they were missing, but unless they got some urgent case, Hotch would have no reason to bother them. Morgan hoped that someone would try calling him by the morning, but at the rate these two guys were killing, they weren't going to last till morning.

"They will find us," Reid told Pete.

"Not if they decide to play another guessing game," Pete said quietly.

Pete was right about that, but Morgan brushed that to the back of his mind. He looked around the room again. There had to be something they could use as a weapon, but they were running out of time. Morgan didn't think they would go through the time and energy to properly bury the bodies. They would probably ditch them in some nearby alley and that would be it, but like Reid said, they knew exactly what they were doing and all of this was probably just routine to them. They put Reid and Pete in handcuffs and made sure that Morgan couldn't use his legs. He didn't need his legs to kick their ass, but he wasn't willing to make any mistakes that could end up killing Reid or Pete.

"I don't think Tatiana was missing for that long," Reid said breaking the silence.

"How do you know?" Morgan asked.

"I didn't see her picture on the news," Reid said. "She was dead, but she was still in the first few steps of decomposition. "I think she's only been dead a few hours, and if she just went missing, they didn't keep her long."

Morgan nodded in agreement. If they were able to somehow take down Anthony, Michael would be easy. They might even be able to convince Michael to let them go if they got him alone. Out of all of this, Morgan did see something different about what happened to Tatiana than what was going on with them. She was all alone. She didn't have any buddies with her, and they just let her body lie there after she died. It was possible that there were more with her, and their bodies were taken before she met her end, but Morgan didn't think. These two were getting bolder and stronger with every kill. They thought they were past the point of making mistakes, and that was what Morgan how to look out for. They were going to make a mistake, and when they did, Morgan would be ready.

 _yay for chapter 2! let me know what u guys think of it so far. these chapters are still short, but like i said, im still working on the little details. i have the ending planned out already, and its pretty gruesome haha. plz review! till next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

_sorry guys for the long delay. i know this story has been more popular than i thought it would be, and so now its coming back. hoping the updates will come a lot faster than they have been haha. my lovely pisces muse is back at my side and is urging me to write so here we go. warnings n this chapter: same as always. i dont think theres much language, but there is def some blood. a lot of blood. enjoy!_

Rossi and Hotch didn't talk much on their way to find Reid and Morgan. Whenever Rossi did speak, he tried to keep the conversation light. It was easy for Reid to lose track of time, and Morgan could forget even who he was when he was dancing with a pretty girl. It didn't seem like either one of those occurrences would be likely though seeing as they were together, and according to their phones, they had been outside this book shop for hours. Prentiss arrived at Peter Boyle's abduction scene before they even pulled up to where Morgan's car was parked. She didn't find any new information. The dance studio did have a camera outside, but the park bench was just out of the camera's view. There wasn't any question though that the boy had been abducted. Prentiss told them that there were two areas where blood was found so the kid gave a good fight before he was finally taken. The phone was being sent it for fingerprint tracing, and Boyle's little sister was sobbing from inside the studio. No witnesses. No reports of unknown vehicles parked around the studio. Boyle arrived to pick up his sister, and then he just vanished. It was mind bobbling.

Hotch parked across the street from Morgan's car, and both of them broke out in a run when they saw Reid's messenger bag on the sidewalk near the car. It was wide open with books and some stray papers lying not far from the bag. Rossi was surprised that it didn't look like any of the books were stolen by curious onlookers, but then again, Reid's taste in literature didn't always conform to the general public. Hotch checked inside the car while Rossi looked up and down on the sidewalk. He didn't see anyone on the street with them, but only a few steps away, he saw a shattered cell phone on the ground. He pulled a glove out of his pocket and picked it up. It was still dripping wet like it fell into a cup of water or something, but he recognized the phone as belonging to Reid.

"Reid's phone," Rossi said holding it up for Hotch to see. Hotch glanced at the phone, and went back to looking in the car.

"Morgan's phone is in here," Hotch said.

Rossi didn't want to rush into things, but he was sure that when they went into the bookstore asking about Morgan and Reid, nobody saw them leave and there wouldn't be any cameras on these dark streets. People can report spotting Elvis shopping at a local market or recording UFO landings, but not one person saw two federal agents being abducted just outside what looked like a popular bookstore.

"Do you see blood anywhere?" Hotch asked slamming the car door shut and circling around to where Rossi was.

"No, but some kind of struggle did take place here," Rossi said. "Reid's phone wasn't near his bag, but I can't find either one of their guns out here."

Hotch bent down to one knee to get a closer look at Reid's bag. His ID was safely hidden away in one of the pockets of the bag, but other than the phone, there was no trace of Morgan left behind. "I'm calling Strauss."

Rossi looked at the phone, and was trying to figure out how exactly Reid's phone got from his bag or his hand to smashed on the ground. Rossi backed up to the front steps of the bookstore to try and reenact what led to the abduction on his own. Hotch sounded like he had his hands phone telling Strauss what happened. Rossi walked down the three steps from the store without any trouble, and he imagined there were probably more people on the street when they originally left, but Rossi couldn't see people bumping into them. It was a weeknight, and most people were getting ready for another early morning the next day. They were probably talking on the way to the car, but both of them were always mindful of the people around them. If Morgan sensed a dangerous situation, he could have gotten Reid out of there. They made it as far as the car. That's where Reid's bag was so they were getting into the car when something happened. They saw something that made them stop. It couldn't have been someone threatening. They both would have had their guns out so the unsub couldn't look like a dangerous person, but that didn't make sense if the unsub was strong enough to abduct two federal agents.

Hotch ended his call, and was already looking back down at his phone. "Hotch, how close is this to the Boyle abduction?"

"It's about 10 minutes from here. Why? Do you think it was the same unsub?"

"Car here. Phones left behind. I haven't talked to the people in the bookstore yet, but I'm positive they didn't see anything so no witnesses. They are just gone."

"So this unsub is just going around town taking people? If Boyle and Wilson were abducted by the same person that took Morgan and Reid, this guy has taken four people in the span of a few hours which doesn't seem possible even if this guy is experienced."

"Unless it's a team," Rossi said. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. "The first unsub distracts the victim, and the second unsub does the attack. It was probably easier with Boyle and Wilson. Boyle was just a kid and Wilson wasn't that big, and these guys probably had no idea that Morgan and Reid are agents. They still might not know. They just saw Morgan and Reid leaving the store, and thought they were up for a challenge."

"Morgan isn't exactly as easy target even with two unsubs," Hotch said, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. With two experienced unsubs who knew what they were doing, it would be hard but not impossible to take Morgan.

"We need to have Garcia find related crimes," Rossi said. "This isn't their first time around. They probably used the same tactic to take all of them. "The one distracting the targets isn't threatening looking so he or she gains some kind of trust when the second one attacks. I just don't know if they are from this area of town."

"They would have been on the news with how many people they abduct at once," Hotch said agreeing. "But they have done this before. It went by without a hitch, and it looks like the only one who really fought back was Peter Boyle."

"Just because we don't see any blood doesn't mean Reid and Morgan didn't fight back," Rossi said calmly. "Morgan would have done anything they wanted if he thought Reid was in danger, and something tells me that the attacker grabbed Reid first."

"I already told Strauss," Hotch said after a short pause. "I'll call up J.J. and Prentiss. I'm sure they will want to come over. They might find something that we missed."

"Did you want me to tell Garcia?" Rossi asked. She was patiently waiting for a phone call from Morgan that wasn't going to come. At least, it wasn't going to come as soon as she was hoping.

"You can or she will be calling us," Hotch said. Garcia was going to be devastated when she found out that Morgan and Reid weren't with the car. Rossi was going to do his best to calm her down, and their disappearance could be from a number of different things. Just because they were missing didn't mean it was because of this unsub, but Garcia wasn't stupid. It wasn't going to be hard for her to see that the last place the boys were was almost identical to the other abduction sites.

* * *

Morgan, Reid, and Peter kept busy while their captors were gone. Reid was looking around for something that they might be able to use as a weapon while Morgan was inspecting the window searching for a place of weakness where it could shatter easily. The window wasn't the problem though. It was the bars behind the window. Morgan didn't have anything against breaking the window, but it didn't look like they were even in a normal neighborhood. It was dark outside, and Morgan couldn't see anything but trees. There weren't any lights in the distance from other houses or even street lights. Where were they? He couldn't remember a place like this near the bookstore. They put Peter to work trying to see if he could find something with the home owner's name. Some people had their names written on the inside of books or maybe he could find papers or something.

"I can't even find a pen," Reid said. Morgan didn't know how long their captors had been gone, but they probably didn't have long left. "It's looks like they cleaned this room out before they brought us here."

"Her name was Tatiana Garland," Pete said. He was on his knees staring at a book that he managed to open with his hands still tightly bound behind his back. "She really liked books on religion. That's what most of these books are, and art stuff. Wonder if she was a teacher. Why is this helping?"

Morgan turned around, and sat down as slowly as he could on one of the chairs so he wouldn't injure his leg any more. "How old are you kid?"

"21," Pete said. Morgan glanced at Reid, but the boy genius was still trying to find anything they could use to defend themselves. Morgan didn't think he would find a single item useful.

"You're 21?" Morgan asked. The kid didn't look older than 16. "When did you turn 21?"

"Early September," Pete said. That was a while ago. Pete didn't look like he was lying, but it was still hard to believe this boy was a day past his 16th birthday.

"Just trying to see what the other people who were kidnapped have in common with us," Morgan heard himself saying. Morgan couldn't see anything still. Even the two women, the lady with the cat and Tatiana, didn't have much in common.

"Victims of opportunity," Reid said speaking up. "I think that was it. Something tells me that Tatiana wasn't the first victim, but I don't think these guys planned out any abduction more than 5 minutes ahead."

"But their age," Morgan argued. It made perfect sense that these 2 weirdos were seasoned well in what they chose for their living, but they weren't exactly old enough to have been doing this for that long. "Corndog boy looks like he just graduated high school and his buddy is still in his 20s too. I mean, I can imagine someone in their 40s being as planned as out as these 2 are, but this doesn't make sense. I don't think they could have been killing that long."

"Mary Bell was 10 years old when she strangled her 4 year old neighbor," Reid said quickly. "And in England, two 10 year old boys murdered a baby they found at the mall."

"Cases like that made the news," Morgan said. His leg was throbbing, and he would do almost anything for some IB Profen. "If these weirdos were killing as kids, we would have heard about some unsolved murder cases in this area."

"Maybe they aren't from this area," Reid said.

Morgan bowed his head in thought. That made more sense than he wanted to admit because if Reid was right, they still had absolutely no idea what they were really dealing with. They were well mannered young men who probably wouldn't stick out in a crowd unless they wanted to, and somehow, they managed to kill for all of these years without drawing any attention their way. They knew exactly what they were doing, and they were smart. That's what worried Morgan the most. The creaking of some door interrupted Morgan's thoughts. It had been quiet in the room except for the television. This new noise could only mean they were coming back.

"Back on the couch guys," Morgan whispered as loud as he could. Reid and Pete didn't need to be told twice, and both of them hurried back to the couch. Peter sat on the edge, but Reid didn't sit down. He ran over to Morgan, and bent over so Morgan could use his back as support for his broken leg. Morgan appreciated that, but he would have rather just been left behind. It didn't matter though. They had more than enough time to get situated on the couch. Reid took his place in the middle, and Morgan sat on the edge closest to the door so it looked like they hadn't moved. The unsubs weren't dumb enough to think the trio had just been watching TV this entire time, but it was good to not draw attention to what they were trying to do.

"Sorry about the delay boys," Anthony's voice said filling the air. "Took longer than we thought to bury two bodies. The ground wasn't exactly cooperating with us, but beggars can't be choosers. Right?"

He circled around the couch, and sat down in front of them. His partner was right behind him. He wasn't eating another corndog, but he held a soda in his right hand. Morgan was trying to see where the duo was hiding their weapons because Anthony wasn't holding his gun either. He had a book in his hands and opened it up like he was going to read them a bed time story. It was unnerving, and Morgan could feel Reid shifting next to him.

"Why are you doing this?" Reid suddenly asked. Morgan assumed the question was just asked to get the unsubs talking, and get them distracted from what they had planned with the book.

"Why are we doing this Michael?" Anthony asked. Michael sat his soda down on the table beside him, and wiped his upper lip with his gloved hand.

"Because it's enjoyable," Michael said with a smile that Morgan didn't like.

"Because it's enjoyable," Anthony repeated clapping his hands together. "Is that answer satisfactory to you? It works for me. It's like having Broadway in the living room. It can't get any better than this."

"We aren't performing," Morgan said slowly. "You need to let us go man. They are not going to go easy on either one of you if you don't let us go now. I'm a federal agent. Don't forget that."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten Morgan Douglas. It's hard to forget a little something like that," Anthony said smiling. "That makes what we are doing a little more enjoyable. Don't you agree? Anyway, while Robin Hood was digging the holes, I found this little book in the bedroom. It's all about the psychology behind psychopaths. Isn't that fascinating?"

Reid glanced at Morgan. Morgan was sure the boy genius read that book around a hundred times, and the cover did look familiar. Morgan probably read it too at one point in his life, but he was feeling restless. Anthony and Michael were planning something. Morgan just wanted them to do what they wanted and then leave again. Dragging them along like this was cruel.

"But I read in here that quite a few serial killers keep some kind of memento from their kills. Kinda like a keepsake or something. Do we count as serial killers?" Anthony asked Michael.

The younger man shrugged. They had to get Michael alone. He was their only hope of getting out of there. Morgan was positive the three of them could convince Michael to help.

"But it's weird," Anthony continued. He held the book up for them to see. "Almost every single killer mentioned in this book had some kind of traumatic childhood like they were raped by a parent or beaten or even had a religious nut for a parent. I never had that. My parents are delightful people who throw a huge Christmas party for friends and relatives every year. I'm not a quiet loner, and I never thought about hurting animals or lighting fires. Does that mean I'm not a serial killer or does that just make me special?"

"It makes you very special," Morgan said. "Now let us go."

"Sorry, I tend to go from topic to topic when I'm excited," Anthony said. "What was I talking about? Does anyone remember?" Anthony looked at the 3 people in front of him like he expected them to answer. Reid was keeping quiet, and Peter was looking down.

"Keepsakes," Michael said.

"Right, keepsakes. Thank you," he said smiling at Michael. He playfully hit Michael's shoulder, and looked back at his book. "So I was thinking to become a real serial killer, me and Michael need to start getting our own little mementos from our kills. Didn't think about till the girls were buried, but you guys are a good place to start."

Morgan didn't like the sound of where this was going. "Not all serial killers keep something from the crime scenes."

"Of course not," Anthony said standing up. "But I think it sounds like a fantastic idea. That way, when I'm a hundred years old, I can look back at the items I choose and remember what a wonderful time of my life this was."

He got on his knees in front of them while he was looking them over. Morgan couldn't help it. He lunged on top of Anthony, and got the younger man on his back while he searched Anthony's pocket for his gun, but he didn't get that far. Michael came up behind them, and kicked Morgan on the back of his knee forcing Morgan to a stop before he did anything. Morgan screamed, and Anthony managed to get Morgan off of him. Anthony stood up, brushed the stray dirt off his white sweater, and kicked Morgan in the leg.

"That wasn't very nice, was it?" he sneered at Morgan. "That was downright uncalled for, and because of that kind of attitude, you are going first tonight. Michael, would you mind so much watching the other two?"

Michael nodded his head, and went behind the couch to watch Peter and Reid. He pulled a gun out of his waistband that Morgan didn't notice before, and he kept the gun behind Reid's head. Morgan felt like puking. Did he just make everything worse? Anthony pulled Morgan to his feet, and dragged him over to one of the armchairs. He pulled Morgan's arms behind his back, and tied them together.

"You can stop this right now," Reid begged.

"If you weren't abused as a kid, what made you want to grow up and start killing people?" Pete asked. Morgan looked up. He was surprised Peter was brave enough to even talk.

Anthony smiled. "I read a story once when I was little about a woman who bathed in the blood of virgins to remain younger. I know, of course, that this isn't true. The blood of a virgin isn't any different than the blood of a slut. Am I right virgin boys? You two are virgins, right? I wouldn't want to be going around calling out facts that weren't true."

"Bathing in any kind of blood isn't going to make you stay young forever," Reid said as calmly as he could with a gun still pointed at the back of his head. "It will expose you all kinds of diseases, but it won't keep you young."

"So you are a virgin?" Anthony asked smiling. "I won't embarrass you any further, but that question may come up again in time. Michael, have you chosen your treasure item yet?"

"I like their hair," Michael said softly. He stroked his fingers through Reid's wavy hair making the young doctor jerk away. "Both of them have such pretty hair."

"Not this dude," Anthony said pointing at Morgan. "Sure we can find hair on you somewhere though. Right big guy? Want to gander a guess at what I have chosen?"

"No," Morgan said quickly.

"I do enjoy your sarcasm," Anthony said patting him on the back. "If you managed to accomplish anything when you jumped me earlier, you would have discovered that I had pliers in my back pocket. It does make you wonder what my plans with this weapon are. My chosen item is nails. It will be like playing doctor." Anthony slid the pliers down Morgan's hands, and Morgan couldn't help flinching away at the cold metal.

"Wait? What?" Peter asked.

"I'm taking off your nails, and when that's finished, Michael will give you a nice haircut. Doesn't this all sound exciting? But wait. There's rules. There's rules to every game so you must listen closely. Every time you move away from the pliers, something bad will happen to your friends over there. Are we ready to begin?"

Morgan looked at Reid. Reid's big puppy eyes looked worried, and Morgan prayed for a miracle just to have Reid's hands out of those damned cuffs. He felt the pliers close down on his thumb nail, and he closed his eyes as the weapon started to pull. There wasn't any teasing, and the attacker didn't try to be gentle. Morgan's nail was ripped clean off the nail bed in one quick movement and Morgan screamed. The burning pain was nothing compared the constant throb from his broken leg, but when he managed to open his eyes, Michael harshly knocked Reid in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Reid's head fell forward, and his mouth opened from the pain. Peter looked like he was thinking about making a run for the door, but he changed his mind and stayed where he was.

"Are we all understanding how the game works now?" Anthony asked after Morgan and Reid calmed down enough to look at each other again. "Every time you scream or act like a little baby just from a little boo boo, one of your two friends is going to get hurt and each time, the pain will get worse and worse for them. Are there any questions?"

"When can I cut their hair?" Michael asked. He ran his fingers through Peter's hair, and the boy closed his eyes and tried not to flinch.

"After I finish with Morgan Jones' nails," Anthony said.

Just like that, the pliers went back down on Morgan's nails. Morgan managed to keep himself from screaming with every rip by biting down on his tongue, but it was getting harder and harder. He was sure he ripped one of his nails once while he was on a case, but it was nothing like this. This was agony. By the time Anthony got to his thumb, Morgan opened his eyes and was shocked to see Reid had a trickle of blood down his face and Peter was close to tears.

"What the hell man?" Morgan asked. Anthony didn't wait to answer Morgan's complaint. The pliers connected to the tip of Morgan's thumb nail, and slowly pulled the nail out. Morgan screamed that time, and by the time he opened his eyes back up, Michael had hit Reid hard enough with the gun for the boy genius to nearly black out. Reid fell over from the blow, but he caught himself before he tumbled on the carpet.

"You have a complaint my dear friend?" Anthony asked. He took a few steps so he was facing Morgan, and Morgan had to look away when he saw his blood on the pliers.

"Why is your buddy hurting them? You said they would only get hurt if I screamed."

"Oh no, you misunderstood," Anthony said plainly. "I said every time you act like a baby they would get hurt, and closing your eyes and biting your tongue is childish. Don't you think? That's not how a real man would take it. I think one hand is enough for now. Michael, are you ready for some hair?"

Michael nodded eagerly, and pulled out a tiny pair of scissors from his pocket. With a little debate in his sick mind, he chose Reid first for the haircut. He got a thick lock of Reid's hair, and went snipping away. Reid didn't close his eyes, and he didn't break eye contact with Morgan as his hair fell away around him. Michael grabbed a big chunk of it, and sniffed it eagerly. Morgan couldn't stand that. He looked away in disgust.

Anthony pushed Morgan to his feet, and Morgan nearly collapsed when he added weight to his broken leg, but Anthony held him up. Anthony pushed Morgan to the couch, but he couldn't use his hands to catch himself. He landed on his knees and did everything in his power to keep from screaming again. Peter scooted forward while Anthony took a firm hold of Reid's shirt, and pulled the boy genius to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Pete whispered to Morgan. His eyes were full of concern, but he couldn't help with his own hands behind his back. Morgan was on his own. Morgan used his good leg to get onto his feet, and let himself fall on the couch. It hurt like hell, but at least he was on the couch again. He wasn't greeted with friendliness as almost immediately he felt a gun against his head. Reid was pushed on the chair, and Anthony went back at the pliers without some fancy speech that Morgan and the others were growing used to.

Reid was quieter than Morgan thought he would be, but he did scream loudly when the first nail was ripped out. Blood trailed down the wrench onto Anthony's white gloves, and the discarded nail was tossed on the floor. He could feel Peter trembling next to him. Reid's voice was cracking when he finally spoke. Morgan couldn't tell if it was out of fear of pain, but Reid nervously licked his lips before he spoke.

"You and your friend have a lot in common," Reid said as fast as he could get the words out. "Nails and hair are both made out of keratin. They are just used in different ways in the human body, but they are alike. Did you know that?"

"No," Anthony said. "You learn something new every day. "Tom Carey was your name, right? What kind of job do you have?"

"Doctor," Reid said without any hesitation. "In the emergency room."

"Fascinating," Anthony said. "You must tell us some of the stories from working there. I'm sure you have quite a few." Anthony put the pliers back on Reid's hand, and pretty boy hissed in pain as another nail was rudely taken from his finger. That small hiss brought a loud thud as Michael whipped the gun against Peter's head. Peter coughed, but he didn't fall over.

"Don't think you can get any more sick pleasure if we are knocked unconscious over here. You know that? One more swipe and that could do it? Hell, would you still be laughing if you accidentally killed one of us from the stupid gun hits?" Morgan shouted. He knew these sickos were getting their pleasure from the torment. It wouldn't be in their plan for a victim to die so quickly, and one of them did end up dying, Morgan was sure Anthony would yell at Michael for the next month over it.

"It's quite alright Morgan Turner. We only have two nails left," Anthony said. In that same breath, the last two nails on Reid's right hand were torn off. Tears were running down his face, and he was breathing through his mouth. Morgan knew exactly how the kid felt, but that didn't take away the pain in Reid's eyes. Reid was escorted back to the couch, and pushed down next to Morgan. Morgan got a good look at Reid's hand before he sat down, and the fingers with the missing nails were a bright shade of red.

"Just breathe," Morgan said. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," Reid whispered. "Listen to the news. They just mentioned Peter's disappearance."

Morgan looked over at the television, but not long enough to draw any attention to it. Reid was right. There was a female reporter standing in front of some dance studio talking to a woman with blonde hair that looked a lot like Peter. Tears were on her face, and it looked like she was pleading with the kidnappers to bring the boy home. Anthony didn't seem to notice as he was dragging the kid over to that chair.

"You know the rules blondie," Anthony said. He didn't bother washing any of Reid or Morgan's blood off the pliers. He probably wanted to use that to scare the others. Pete looked like he was trying as hard as he could to be brave, but he screamed when his thumb nail was ripped off. Morgan got this job to protect the innocents like Peter. He couldn't just sit by and watch it happen, but there was nothing else he could do. His eyes kept going back and forth from the mother on the television screen to Peter screaming his lungs out. Morgan didn't think this was ever going to end. Reid tried distracting Anthony again with some mindless trivia that only Reid would know, but it wasn't working this time.

When Morgan looked at the TV again, an older man wearing a jacket and dress pants stood next to Peter's mother. He had his arm around her shoulders, and his eyes were red from crying. "Please bring our boy home," he told reporters. No questions will be asked. Just let him come home to us."

A blood curdling scream coming from Peter tore Morgan's gaze from the screen. A considerable amount of blood was dripping on the carpet, and Peter was hyperventilating. Anthony raised the pliers above Peter's head for everyone to see a pinky finger in the weapon's clutches.

"You took his finger?" Michael asked sounding mildly entertained. "I thought you were only interested in the nails."

"I thought I was too," Anthony said as he took the pinky from the pliers. He proudly showed it to Peter. "Guess he won't be able to pinky swear anymore!" Anthony and Michael burst out laughing.

"Peter? Can you hear me?" Reid tried to call out to the kid over the over the top laughter. Peter was still conscious, but he was losing a lot of blood from his hand still facing the ground.

"Stay with us kid," Morgan said. "Bring him over here. Can't see you guys being so proud of pulling a finger off."

"You're right," Anthony said. "We are acting completely childish and his finger or um, hole where his finger was, needs to be looked at." He pulled Peter to his feet, and brought him back next to Morgan. Without even asking, Michael took the ropes off Morgan's hands and allowed him to look at Peter's hand. "Don't plan on it getting reattached though."

Morgan looked up at the finger, and saw Anthony cutting the finger in half with the pliers. The two pieces fell to the floor, and Anthony playfully kicked one of the pieces underneath the couch. Peter gagged. Michael didn't even stop for a minute before taking out those tiny scissors and lifting up strands of Peter's wavy hair. He cut off several thick chunks, and finally backed away when he put Peter's hair with Reid's hair in his pocket.

"I'll let you get the boy cleaned up before we get together again," Anthony announced. "Next game is one of my personal favorites, but I have a feeling you guys won't like it much. I know Tatiana hated the game. You liked it though, right Michael?"

"I love all your games," Michael said picking up his soda.

"Thought so," Antony said smiling. "I'll give you guys about half an hour for clean-up. Sounds fair to me so I'll keep an eye on the time. We are having such a fun night!"

Michael followed Anthony out of the room, and Morgan didn't move one inch until he heard the door lock behind them. As soon as he heard it, he had Peter move to his side so Morgan could get a better look at the hand. There was a bloody hole that went right down to the socket where the finger used to be. Morgan had seen a lot on his job, but he had never seen a finger ripped off like that before.

Reid got to his feet, and stood behind Morgan to look at the wound. He didn't say anything, but he went in front of where Peter was sitting. "Deep breaths," he coaxed the kid. "It's going to be alright. Just keep breathing."

"I want to go home," Peter whispered.

Morgan was the only one who had any use of his hands, and he ripped a piece of the blanket he used earlier into what looked like a bandage. He didn't have access to any water to clean out the wound, but the bleeding had to stop. He wrapped the blanket tightly around the kid's hand, and over the gaping wound. Morgan kept pressure on it to help stop the bleeding.

"Can you lie on your stomach?" Morgan asked. "We have to keep your hand elevated."

Peter nodded, and Morgan helped the kid get on his stomach. He put a pillow underneath his head, but he kept applying pressure to the wound. There was nothing else he could do. He couldn't offer Peter anything for the pain, and he was sure the finger couldn't be saved. Peter's breathing was getting under control, and the three of them were going to get past this point.

Morgan put the rest of the blanket over the kid's back to keep him warm, and Reid stayed by the kid's head to let him know that he wasn't alone. Whatever Reid was doing was helping though. Morgan felt Peter start to relax his body.

"Did you see J.J. anywhere on that report?" Morgan asked. He avoided mentioning Peter's parents. He didn't know if the kid saw them or not, but it was better not to bring them up until he was feeling better.

"Yes," Reid said. "She was next to the woman in the first few shots." Morgan wanted to ask if they were mentioned at all, but he figured he would find out later. His main focus was still finding a way to get Reid and Peter out of there. He couldn't figure out though why their captors' main plan was to have them killed, but then go through all this trouble to make sure the kid recovered from losing his finger. It wasn't making sense.

 _story is slowly picking up, right? review and lemme know what u guys think! im always open to suggestions and i LOVE reading my reviews. they make me super super happy. till next time! xoxoxo_


	4. Chapter 4

_got this chapter done fast. guess my writing muse really is back for the time being. im not sure where im going with these 2 unsubs. im still learning about them myself. i learn as i write haha but they r going 2 b harder to find most unsubs r i believe which is funny cuz they arent far from where the bau is_

J.J. got there as fast as she could as soon as she heard that Reid and Morgan's disappearance could be related to what happened with Nelson and Boyle. The sheriff had his men combing the area where Nelson was abducted, but there was nothing to be found. Sarah Nelson was just gone. There were security cameras all over the area, but there wasn't a single one focused on where Sarah parked her car. Her friends never got any strange text messages from her, and her purse was found still in the car. Nothing was missing out of it. She was just gone. J.J. wanted to drive over to where Morgan's car was still parked, but Hotch asked her to go over to the Boyle scene with Prentiss first. Out of the three abduction scenes, that was the only one that blood was found at. She was over there in minutes, and found Prentiss waiting for her.

There were police lights everywhere, and one of the first things J.J. saw was a blonde woman hugging a little girl. They were sitting outside the dance studio, and even though J.J. had only seen a single photo of the Boyle kid, she knew this was his mother. She flashed her badge and went under the police tape to where Prentiss was looking around a park bench. J.J. noticed a cell phone just underneath the bench. It looked cracked, but the light was still on.

"So what do we have?" J.J. asked. She bent over to look at the phone, and that's when she noticed the blood stain near where Prentiss was standing.

"21 year old boy," Prentiss said. "Blood stain here. Texted his mom when he got here to pick his little sister up. Mom texted back, but she didn't hear from him since. That's his phone there. Wallet is still in his car and looks like nothing was stolen."

"Rossi was saying that they think we're dealing with two unsubs now," J.J. said. "One to distract the victim while the other one attacks."

"Looks like they threw him on the cement," Prentiss said. "The blood isn't that far from his phone though. Maybe he was attacked, and when he tried running for his phone, they knocked him out. This kid fought back though. This isn't a tiny amount of blood. It took a lot of effort for these unsubs to kidnap this boy."

"Agents?" an officer asked walking up to them. "The director of the studio was reviewing some of the footage and she thinks she might have found something."

J.J. and Prentiss ran past the woman and her child and into the studio. Police were everywhere, but all of the children were gone except the little girl outside. J.J. didn't think any of the children saw anything which was good. She didn't like children involved in cases like this even if they were just witnesses. Kids know what's going on. They may not tell the adults everything that they see or hear, but they know. They went into the back office where they were greeted with even more officers and a few employees of the studio. A woman wearing black dance pants and a leotard top was sitting on a chair in front of a monitor.

"Did you get anything on camera?" J.J. asked. The woman reviewed the tape on the monitor and let it play from the beginning. J.J. couldn't see anything for almost a full minute of staring at the screen, but when a white car slowly drove past the front door, the woman paused it.

"Here. I don't recognize this car," she said pointing at it. "I know what the kids leave in from this studio and what their parents drive. This isn't one of them."

"It couldn't just be someone driving by?" Prentiss asked. She leaned closer to the screen to try and make out who the driver was.

"No," the woman said firmly. "You saw where this studio is. It's behind some office building on a local street. People don't drive over here unless they are coming for class. Ever."

"Can you zoom it in?" J.J. asked. The woman clicked her mouse a few more times, and the image they were looking at became bigger. It was blurry, and they couldn't make out any distinct features. It was a white four door car, and there were two people in the front seat. They were both wearing white sweaters or white jackets, and J.J. noted that the driver was also wearing white gloves. Even if these guys weren't the unsubs, their behavior and choice of wardrobe was strange.

"He's wearing white gloves," Prentiss said pointing it out. "Like he's trying to hide his fingerprints. That's what he's doing!"

"Probably isn't even his car that he's driving," J.J. said. "We need to tell Hotch. Can we get copies of this footage?" J.J. was already pulling out her cell phone.

"The guy driving isn't that old," Prentiss said motioning for J.J. to come back before she made the call. The woman on the chair zoomed in a little bit further so they could get a better look at the driver. His face was blurry, but he wasn't old at all. He had brown hair that was cut short with dark eyebrows. His skin was lighter, but she couldn't make out the color of his eyes. He was still in his 20s though. Later 20s, but he wasn't 30 yet. She could tell that much.

"Boyle's mom was telling me earlier that she wanted to talk to the reporters," Prentiss said. "The kidnappers could be watching, and sometimes when the unsubs see the mother's face, it helps with getting the child back. With an unsub as young as the guy driving is, it could work."

"Okay," J.J. said. It was a good idea, and it did make perfect sense to her. It was a good place to start before they got any solid leads. "I'll ask Hotch and see what he thinks."

Prentiss nodded. "Ma'am, is this footage from before or after Boyle was abducted?"

The lady leaned in to check the time on the monitor. "A few minutes after I believe. Does that mean Clara's brother is in the truck of that car?"

J.J. didn't say anything. She didn't think he would be in the trunk if they wanted to keep him alive for long which seemed like the plan in their case. They wanted him alive. They wanted Reid and Morgan alive. J.J. couldn't tell why at that point. It would be almost impossible to find out what their purpose was if they couldn't find out who the two driving the white car were or if they didn't find any bodies from previous murders. They still really had no idea what they were dealing with other than two kids in their 20s who were smart enough to cover their trail.

* * *

Reid was trying his very best to stay calm even though he had no idea what to expect next from their captors. Morgan eventually got Peter's bleeding under control, but they both decided it was best for the boy to stay lying down for the time being. It was the only way to keep his hands elevated. From some miracle, Peter never lost consciousness. His eyes were closed, but he kept talking to them which assured them that he was alright.

"There's bars behind the windows?" Reid asked standing up. His legs were falling asleep, but he didn't want to leave Peter even for a second in case the boy got scared. With Peter starting to come around, Reid felt confident enough to stand up.

"Big bars," Morgan said. "I was thinking I might be able to break a part of the window open with my boots, but there's no way we can escape from there. I couldn't even see lights from other houses. Where the hell are we?"

Reid tried to concentrate. Were there any parks near the bookstore? It didn't seem like they were driving for that long to get to this house, but he wasn't sure. It was hard to tell time very well with a bandana over his eyes. "Maybe if we find a flashlight, we can point it outside. All we need is for one person to notice."

Morgan switched arms pressing down on Peter's hand, and he sat on the floor. "You didn't find any flashlights though, did you?"

"No," Reid said. Reid found a lot of books, papers, old receipts, photos, and even several porcelain dolls, but there wasn't one thing they could use. All the pens and pencils from the drawers were missing. There weren't any letter openers or even a single paperclip. The room had been ransacked of anything valuable that they could use for protection.

"If they came back in right now and shot all of us, they would never get caught. Would they?" Peter asked with a weak voice. "I mean, they could just disappear to another city or state and start over." Peter turned his face over to look at the others. Reid could see the fear in his eyes.

"We're going to get you out of here kid," Morgan said. Reid looked down at Morgan's leg. It was hard to see what exactly what was going on with it because his jeans were covering up the injury, but it was placed in an odd position. Reid could stop a wound from bleeding, but he couldn't set a bone. Morgan and Peter both needed to be in the hospital.

Peter nodded. "Please don't leave me behind or something. You guys probably get weirdos like this all the time. Just don't forget I'm here too."

Morgan patted him gently on the back. "Don't worry kid. We're in this together."

Reid smiled gently at the boy on the couch, but turned his attention back towards the barred window. They weren't near the bookstore. They couldn't be, but where in the world where they then? The team managed to piece together that the three of them were taken by the same unsubs, but Reid wasn't able to listen to most of the interview due to the constant screaming. J.J. was standing by Peter's mother though so the scenes where they were abducted had to be similar. He wondered if they found any other cases that were somehow identical to this one, but they didn't know about Tatiana yet. The police would have been raiding this house first thing if they knew about her. It brought him some comfort to know that the team was out there and that they were looking, but did they have any idea what they were looking for?

A blast of cold air conditioning went down his back. He looked up and saw that he was standing underneath an air vent. Morgan felt it too. "Why would they turn the air conditioning on?" Morgan asked him.

"Maybe to get rid of the smell from the bodies," Peter mumbled. Morgan made sure the blanket was still properly over the boy to keep him warm, and switched hands to keep applying pressure to the wound.

"There's no smell from the bodies," Reid said quietly. He was afraid for a few moments that maybe the unsubs put something in the vents, like something toxic that would kill them all, but that didn't seem like their style. What else could it be?

Loud talking interrupted his thoughts. He turned back to the couch where Morgan was already trying to get Peter into a sitting position. Peter didn't resist, but Reid noticed he tried to keep his hands raised. Morgan sat down next to him, ready to defend the kid if it came to that, and Reid took a place at the end of the couch. The thought crossed his mind that they could try to jump the unsubs as they walked through the door, but the only one able for that confrontation was Reid and he was still in handcuffs.

Anthony led the way in like usual with his younger friend right behind him. Michael held their locks of hair in his hands, but what caught Reid's breath was the large hammer Anthony was holding. Michael slammed the door behind them, and Anthony was humming a song while he gently pounded the hammer against his palm.

"Hey man," Morgan said scooting forward on the couch. "I thought we were going to keep guessing my name. You're not even close to getting it right."

"We can continue that game later of course," Anthony said with another slap to his palm. He took a step towards them, but Morgan never backed down. "We just ran into a minor difficulty that I'm sure we can get sorted out in no time. Michael, would you mind explaining to the guys what the problem is?"

Michael took another big whiff of the hair before stuffing it back into his pockets. "The hair doesn't smell clean. I was hoping for cleaner hair."

Reid looked over his shoulder at Morgan who didn't look any more relaxed than Reid felt. He couldn't see Peter, but he was sure the boy was looking worried too.

"When was the last time you boys washed your hair?" Anthony asked them. He glared at Reid for a few moments and then looked over at Peter. Reid didn't answer. He didn't think anything he could have said would have made them go away. "I don't think it would be too much to ask for some clean hair from you gentleman so Michael here can have a keepsake he can treasure. Is that asking too much Michael?"

"I don't think it is," Michael said. He took a step forward, and without thinking, Reid scooted back on the couch.

"Neither did I," Anthony said finally taking a step back from Morgan. "So here's what we were thinking while we were waiting for you to take care of blondie. And good job on him by the way! We can barely tell that he's missing an entire finger. It's fascinating how the human body works like that. Too bad we can't just regrow another finger. You won't be needing another one anyway seeing as you will most likely be dead by morning."

"You gotta stop making these assumptions man," Morgan said firmly. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

"And you don't know who you are missing with Morgan Freeman," he said clapping his free hand against his knee. He winked at Michael and looked back at Morgan. "That's it right. Is that your name? If it is, bravo to your mother."

"That's not my name," Morgan said. "Not even close. Try again."

"We can try again soon, but we have more pressing matters at hand here," Anthony said. "We weren't sure what to do, but Michael came up with a brilliant idea. He can just shampoo your hair and get new treasures. It doesn't sound all that exciting to me, but to each his own. Right?

"You want to wash their hair?" Morgan asked.

"We already have the bath set up," Anthony said. He handed the hammer he was holding to Michael, and pulled Morgan's gun out from his pocket. He pointed it directly at Reid and smiled. "We promise to act like perfect gentlemen. Don't we Michael?"

"Perfect gentlemen," Michael repeated. Michael wacked his palm with the hammer which sent nerves down Reid's spine.

"And I'm sure you have a million questions in your minds of what exactly this free hair wash entails," Anthony said. "When I said that my comrade and I will behave like perfect gentlemen, we mean it. There will be no sexual touching of any kind, and I will allow the both of you to keep your pants on. I can't recommend you wearing your pants in a bathtub, but I'll let you make the call on that. Remember that it is still winter, and we cannot offer you the courtesy of drying any wet clothes. Your shirts will have to be removed though. There is no choice in that matter. Your socks and shoes, I will leave that up to you as well."

"And what if they aren't feeling up to a hair washing?" Morgan asked.

"Then we will get to play another guessing game. I have no problems with that, but you do remember the last winner of that game is already buried outside," Anthony said.

Morgan looked at Reid. There was nothing else to say. They already decided that they wouldn't participate is anymore guessing games, but the gun was still pointed at Reid's head. He licked his lips nervously. "Will we get the clothes back we take off?" he heard himself asking.

"What a wonderful question!" Anthony exclaimed. "Will you be getting your clothes back? Asking questions like that let me know that you are actually listening to me, and that makes me feel so happy inside. To answer your question though, no, you will not be getting any clothes that you take off back. But if there are no more questions, we should get to it."

Reid couldn't think of a single question. He always had a million questions burning through his mind. Why was this the one time it was silent?

"Okay, on your feet boys. I know the two of you can stand quite well," Anthony said. He stepped back towards Michael to give them room, but he kept the gun on Reid's forehead. "We will be a single file line with Michael leading the way. I'll be the tail. Stand up boys."

Reid took a deep breath, and pushed himself to his shaky feet. Peter stood up after him, and the kid was visibly shaking. Morgan squeezed Reid's hands, and for one split second, he felt safe. Morgan wouldn't let anything to happen to them, but then Michael started walking and Reid had no choice but to follow.

Reid had to memorize everything around him so if escape or help through that window wasn't possible, they would know the general layout of the house. The unsubs had virtually every single light in the house off save for their prison, and a little room just around the corner that he assumed was the bathroom. Cold air from the vents blasted on Reid's shoulders, and the only sound breaking the silence was Anthony humming Build Me Up Buttercup. It was unnerving, and Reid knew he wouldn't be able to listen to that song again without thinking back to this night. When Anthony opened up the bathroom door, Reid got his first glimpse of the house.

The light was overcasting shadows over all of the furniture, and Reid could see two large windows but they were both covered with black drapes. Anthony and Michael did do a lot of work between the time they killed Tatiana and abducting Reid and the others. They cleaned the den out of any type of weapons, even pens and pencils, and they made sure all of the windows were covered and sealed shut. There was a brown leather couch placed just in front of a stone fireplace. An identical loveseat was next to it, and there was a wide coffee table in between the two. Reid could just make out what looked like a dining table in the next room either, but he wasn't allowed to look around any further. Michael was urgently bickering him in the bathroom. He didn't see the front door though.

Peter was shoved in the room after Reid, and Anthony shut the door closed. Peter automatically went right behind Reid. Reid didn't mind, but he didn't like being front and center for two psychopaths either. The bathroom was small. There was barely enough room for all four of them, but the tub was already filled with water. Shampoo bottles were lined up across the edge, and Anthony picked up a little knife he left on the sink.

"What's wrong boys?" Anthony asked. He flipped the knife in the air, and caught it with no problems. "Shirts off first. Remember? And if either one of you try anything, Michael will not hesitate to shoot you in the head." Anthony tossed the gun to Michael, and the younger man stood guard by the door.

Reid's breath caught in his throat when Anthony turned Reid around, and roughly cut the black coat he was wearing. He sliced the material in half, and after a few rough yanks, the coat fell useless on the floor. Reid's black tie came off easy enough, and Anthony took great pleasure in using the knife to rip open Reid's button shirt. The cold air rushed at the exposed skin, and his heart was pounding in his chest. Anthony tore at the dress shirt from the back, and somehow managed to tear the shirt completely so it fell off around the handcuffs.

"See? That wasn't so bad now." Anthony said. Anthony kicked the discarded clothing out of the way, and pulled Peter to the front. The boy was doing his best to act brave, but his eyes were giving away the fear he was feeling. Anthony used the knife to slice down the blue hoodie that Peter was wearing. They could have easily taken off the ropes holding Peter's wrists together, but Anthony took the harder route and chose to just cut his way around the ropes. Peter's hoodie was thrown next to Reid's clothes, and it only took a few seconds to rip the black shirt he was wearing off his body.

"Why is the air conditioning on?" Reid asked. The cold air was giving him goosebumps across his arms, and was almost making him shiver.

"We were feeling hot," Anthony said simply. He tossed Peter's shirt on top of the rest of the clothing. "Did you guys decide about your other clothing? Our promise still stands that we will not touch you in that way so if you want to go full commando, it's up to you."

"I want to keep my clothes," Peter said. He was looking down, and Reid would give anything to not have the kid have to go through something like this. Reid didn't want to either, but he knew how to handle people like this better than Peter did.

"Me too," Reid said. His feet were the only part of his body that was actually warm, and it was a shame that all of that warmth would be going away so soon.

"Ok then, both of you in the tub," Anthony said. He backed up to give them room.

Reid thought they would be doing it one at a time since the tub wasn't exactly that big, but they weren't given that option. Reid led the way, and stopped just outside the tub. Bubbles were floating around on the surface, but nothing about this was inviting. He felt Peter behind him, and we was getting ready to step into the tub when Peter turned around. The kid bent over, stuck one of his legs out, and tripped Anthony. Reid didn't know Peter had that inside of him. Anthony fell hard on the tile floor, but he reached his hands out to stop the kid. Reid stomped on Anthony's hand just as Peter hurried towards the bathroom door. Peter bent over again to trip Michael, but the younger unsub pulled the trigger he was still holding.

Reid thought he went deaf for a moment as the blast from the bullet left ringing in his ears. He fell to his knees out of reflex alone. He couldn't cover up his ears to relieve any of the pressure, but he kept his eyes shut to stop the room from spinning. That's when Anthony grabbed Reid by his hair and smashed his skull onto the edge of the tub. Reid cried out from the explosive pain, and Anthony dropped him back to the rug. Reid opened his eyes slowly to a world that he didn't want to see. Peter was on the floor by the sink, and Michael was kicking the kid again and again in his stomach. Peter was trying his best to get away, but he was cornered. Reid didn't know where the bullet went, but it wasn't in Peter.

"Now why did you have to go and do that?" Anthony asked. He kicked Reid just underneath the rib cage in anger. "We were having such a pleasant time, and then you have to go and ruin it!"

Anthony dropped on his knees, yanked Reid's shoes from his feet, undid the belt, and pulled Reid's pants down his legs. Reid didn't try to kick him or anything to make the situation work, but he did crawl as far away from Anthony as he could once his pants were off. Michael kicked Peter on his cheek, and when the kid was distracted, he tore of the kid's shoes, socks, and pants as well. Instead of searching for a corner to keep him safe, Peter crawled quickly over to where Reid was sitting. He had a huge red mark on his right cheek that would certainly turn into a bruise, and Reid could taste blood in his mouth. He didn't know why Peter acted like that, but it probably wasn't worth the effort.

"Okay, in the tub boys," Anthony said firmly. "I'm sorry that you're both down to your boxers, but you really brought that upon yourselves. You left us no choice. Are you sorry for what you did? It could have cost you your lives."

Reid didn't say anything, and he didn't move until Anthony kicked him on the leg. Reid took a deep breath, and somehow found his footing again. He stood back in front of the tub, and waited for Peter to join in. The boy had more trouble getting up than Reid did, and when he was finally standing straight, Reid noticed the extensive bruising over his chest and stomach. The escape attempt wasn't worth that.

"In the tub," Michael repeated. The gun was still pointed at them, and Reid carefully lifted his foot into the tub.

He didn't know what he was expecting, but not ice cold water. It wasn't even lukewarm. It was freezing, and he took his foot out of the water faster than he put it in. That's why the air conditioning was on. They were going to freeze.

"What's the hold up?" Anthony asked with a sly smile across his face. "You will both get that tub or Michael might accidentally shoot one of you. Or both of you. It's your call really."

Reid looked at Peter. They were in this together. Reid put his already cold and wet foot back into the tub followed by the other one. The water was so cold it felt like his feet were burning, and against every instinct inside of him, and sat down on one end of the tub. The icy water covered his waist, most of his thighs, and his feet. As uncomfortable as it was, he managed to keep his handcuffed wrists out of the water. He wanted to warn Peter about the water, but the kid got right in after him. He got both feet in, and gasped when the water hit his skin. He looked like he was going get back out, but he didn't. He took a deep breath, and sat down across from Reid. He kept his eyes on his knees.

"See?" Anthony said taking the gun from Michael. "That wasn't so bad. Just going to make your hair smell wonderful, and then you can rejoin your friend in the den. Just don't make things more difficult than they are from now on."

Michael tentatively took a few steps towards them, and picked up one of the shampoo bottles from the ledge. He ran his hand through his stringy hair, and opened up the shampoo bottle. The water was getting colder by the second, and Reid couldn't help but shiver. Did they make Tatiana go through something similar to this or were they just making stuff up as they went along? Was Morgan trying to break open that window? Was the team any closer to finding them? Reid had to focus on anything else he could think of.

"Mister Tom Carey," Michael started with a quiet voice. "What kind of shampoo would you like me to use? I have a lavender smelling one here, and I found a berry scented one in the other room. I wasn't sure which one you would like."

Reid felt Peter staring at him. He licked his lips again, but avoided looking at the kid sitting across from him. "There are over 780 million people without access to clean water, and you are wasting it by having me and Peter just sit in it."

"That's good to know," Anthony said. He leaned against the only exit of that room, but kept the gun pointed at them. "Now answer his question."

 _dont forget 2 review my loyal readers and lemme know what u would like 2 see in future chapters! thes lot more dangerous than they r letting on but its just going 2 keep getting darker and darker as the story goes on. which unsub do u guys like better? till next time my friends! xoxoxo_


	5. Chapter 5

_chapter 5 is here guys. story is almost writing itself as i discover more and more about the unsubs in this story. i learn about them myself as i write. its a very interesting process. from what i have learned, i never want to spend a day in either one of the unsubs houses. theres not a lot of warning this chapter. distressing images but nothing too bad. yet. lol_

Anthony was enjoying every minute of what was going on in Tatiana's house. If somebody asked him last night, what his plans were going to be for the rest of the week, he never could have imagined it would involve murdering four more people, but that's exactly what he was doing. The woman with the pet cat was already decaying outside in the backyard, and it wouldn't be much further to go before he added Peter and Tom to the list of kills. He would save Agent Morgan Freeman for last. He always enjoyed a struggle for the end. It was just after 10pm so they still had a while to go before the night was over. Michael was humming some random tune while he shampooed Tom's hair. It was kind of creepy, but every person on the planet had their own vice. It was another question as to whether they would accept their vice or not, but Michael certainly found his. Anthony would never judge him for that. Peter the Wise didn't try to escape again, and he patiently waited for his turn to get his hair washed, but that didn't prevent him from shaking. Man, both of them were trembling like there was no tomorrow. Well, there wasn't a tomorrow for them, but Anthony knew at this point, both boys were thinking they were going to get rescued soon. A rescue wasn't coming for either one of them though. Anthony made sure of that.

"How did you two meet?" Tom Carey asked. Anthony laughed out loud when he could hear the guy's voice stuttering from the cold. Michael didn't answer. He dipped a cup in the tub water to wash out the pretty boy's hair. He gasped loudly when the cold water hit his head for the first time and dripped down his shoulders. Peter tried not to stare, but that was impossible when Michael bent down to sniff the newly washed hair.

"How did we meet?" Anthony asked Michael. He knew the quieter man wouldn't answer. He was much too busy taking little scissors from his back pocket. He took long strands of Tom's hair, and went chopping off large chunks of it. He wrapped the hair in a rubber band, and put the hair in his back pocket followed by his scissors. "How did we meet?" he asked himself again.

Michael, happy with his work, circled around the tub with the shampoo. He wet his hands in the tub, and started massaging Peter's hair. The blonde kid shut his eyes. "I think it was around the time that Michael here started getting molested by his grandpa. Isn't that right?"

"I wasn't molested," Michael said firmly. He didn't look up from his job though. He ran his chubby fingers through Peter's hair, and scrubbed the hair was fully smothered in some kind of tropical shampoo. It smelled gross.

"Course you were," Anthony said nonchalantly. "Maybe you liked it. Forgot that bit. Are we almost done here?" Anthony was bored out of his mind, and the room was really starting to stink. He was never a fan of tangerines.

"Yes," Michael said. He retrieved the cup, filled it with bath water, and poured it over Peter's head. Just like Tom, Peter gasped when the cold water hit him. Michael took out his trusty scissors, and went to cutting away large chunks of Peter's hair. He looked so happy when he added the dark blonde hair, almost a brownish color when it was wet, to his hair collection. He put the hair together in the same rubber band, and took a deep sniff of it once it was together. He smiled with his mouth closed, but his eyes looked like he just had the best and probably only orgasm in his miserable life. "Done," Michael said. He took a step back.

Anthony walked over to the tub, and put his hand in the water. "Oh my, this water sure is cold. Isn't it boys?" His captives didn't reply. He picked up the cup from the side of the tub, filled it to the top with the bath water, and rudely splashed it on both Tom and Peter till both were fully drenched. He didn't want an inch of their skin to be dry when they left. "Okay boys, stand up."

Anthony didn't think them standing up would be as hilarious as it turned out to be. Neither one of them could use their tied up hands, and they didn't seem skilled enough to stand up just using their legs. Tom fell twice trying to find his footing, and Peter slipped underneath the water. It was only for a moment, but Anthony was laughing. The third try was lucky for both of them. Tom got his long legs out of the water, and as soon as he was steady, he took a few steps back to help the kid get out. When they both stood up straight to wait for instruction, Anthony and Michael started laughing again. The water had soaked through both of their boxers shorts all the way to the skin. They were still technically covered, but Anthony saw a lot more of the male body than he was planning to that night.

"Doesn't look like you boys are too excited down there, huh?" Anthony asked slapping Michael's shoulder. Peter immediately bent over to try and cover himself and Tom bent one knee, but Anthony was pretty sure he had seen all there was to see. If he wanted more, there was nothing those skinny dweebs would be able to do about it anyway. He was in control.

"Okay, come on," Anthony said. "No more time for a fashion show. Back to your room." He ushered the boys in the single file line like before with Michael in front and him in the back.

"Can we please have a towel?" Tom asked. His teeth were clattering, and his back was bent over like he was trying to discover some new way to warm himself.

"Nope. No towel. There's carpet in the room," Anthony said. "Move." He kicked Tom in the bum to start the line moving.

Anthony made the line stop whenever they got near an air vent, and it took much longer to get back to the room than it should have. Michael opened the door first, and Anthony held the boys back while Michael swept out the room. He took the blanket off the couch, stole Agent Morgan Freeman's jacket, and went as far as to take the pillow and couch cushions so the boys would have nothing at all to warm themselves with. When Michael was confident the room was clean, Anthony kicked both boys down the four steps. Peter landed on his shoulder. The taller fellow landed on his chest.

"We'll be back in a little while friends," Anthony said smiling. "Just need to turn the air down a little more. It's getting a little hot in here if you asked me."

He shut the door and locked it behind him. He didn't hear any frantic whispers in the room behind him so he went down the hallway, and turned the air conditioning down even further till it felt cold enough of him to wear a jacket. Michael was right by his side, and gave Anthony the agent's jacket without even asking him. Anthony put in on, and even if it was a little big, it kept him warm. He wouldn't mind keeping the jacket for the rest of the night.

* * *

Morgan didn't think the whole adventure would take more than half an hour so when he heard a gunshot go off, he naturally assumed the worst. He couldn't imagine a situation which would result in the gun going off, and he couldn't calm himself down after that. He tried to keep busy. If Reid or Peter had been shot, wouldn't the unsubs bringing them back in for medical attention or something? They did that with Peter's finger so this couldn't be much different, but no one came. Minute after minute passed, and they never came. He knew that sitting around just waiting for them wasn't helping anyone. He needed to be doing something so when they did come back; he could tell them what he accomplished. He dragged himself back over towards the window. It was pitch black outside. He still couldn't see any lights in the distance, but he was sure there had to be other people around. He may not be able to escape through the window, but he could open it. If there was anyone walking around, they would hear the commotion coming from this room and call for help.

After he was confident the window was open as far as it would go, he crawled over to the bookcase. He didn't know what he was hoping to find. There weren't any flashlights or electronics to attract attention. There really were just books, but maybe he could pile a bunch of books outside the window which might bring visitors their way. All they needed was one person with a cell phone, and this hell was over. He started taking books off the shelf with the door to his prison opened. Morgan turned around, and was shocked when Michael tore his jacket off, and proceeded to take away the pillows, cushions, and even the blanket that was draped over the couch. He didn't even have time to ask why. Michael was out of the room in less than a minute, and right after he left, Peter and Reid were thrown in. Both landed on the carpet with a grunt.

"We'll be back in a little while friends," Anthony told them with a cunning smile all over his face. "Just need to turn the air down a little more. It's getting a little hot in here if you asked me." He slammed the door shut, and Morgan kept his mouth shut as it locked.

Morgan took off his own shirt without anyone asking him, and he scooted over to his friends who hadn't moved from their spot on the carpet. Both of them were soaking wet. It wasn't just their hair or their legs. Morgan saw little water droplets clinging to their skin, and for some reason, neither one chose to keep his clothes. They were wearing only their boxers which was more like a second skin now to them rather than clothing. They were both shivering. Morgan ripped his tee shirt in half, and helped Reid roll over into a sitting position. The boy genius had a drop of blood near his mouth, but Morgan didn't see any bullet holes. He put the tee shirt over Reid's shoulders, and then helped Peter up next to him. The kid had a bruise forming on his cheek and red welts on his stomach, but no bullet holes.

"I thought you were going to keep your clothes," Morgan said. The boxers were probably doing more harm than good though. If they were going to get warm, they needed to get all wet clothing off. Morgan just couldn't figure out a way to tell them that.

"We didn't get a choice," Reid said through his clattering teeth. Morgan used the partial shirt to wipe the water off Reid's shoulders and tried to drape it around the younger man like a blanket, but it wasn't going to keep him warm. "The water was freezing. I think they are trying to get us sick."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked. Reid's chopped up hair was dripping more water onto his dry shoulders and blanket shirt. Morgan just didn't know how to get his hair dry.

"Cold water, usually under 70° F, will lower the body's temperature. Hypothermia will occur faster in cold water versus cold air, but I'm pretty sure the water we were sitting in was colder than that. Along with shivering, people can suffer from memory loss and exhaustion when they are experiencing hypothermia, and I don't have any of that. Do you Peter?"

Peter shook his head, but he was still shivering. He had his legs up to his chest, but just like Reid, Peter's wet hair kept dripping on his back and shoulders. Morgan looked around the room. There was literally nothing for them to dry off with.

"Killing people through hypothermia doesn't really seem like their style," Morgan said, but there was no question that both boys were getting sick.

"They turned the air conditioning on before they took us, and they planned on putting us in the freezing water for the shampoo," Reid said quickly. "This was their plan."

Morgan nodded. He agreed that these unsubs knew exactly what they were doing, but he still couldn't figure out their style. Most of the time, killers find out what they enjoy and continue down that path. These two go from shooting random people to attempting to freeze victims to death. It didn't make sense, but the one thing Morgan did know what that the wet clothing the boys were wearing couldn't stay on.

"Guys," Morgan said taking a deep breath and scooting back so he could look at both of them. "You need to get the wet clothing off. I'll go back around the couch so I don't see anything, but keeping the boxers on is just going to make you colder. Maybe if we put by the boxers by the window, they will dry faster. I cracked the window open a little."

"Can you get the ropes off my wrists first?" Peter asked. He was trembling from the cold, and Morgan couldn't find a spot in the room where the air conditioning didn't hit them. Through all the commotion though, he had forgotten that Peter only had ropes keeping his hands together. If Morgan could get the ropes off, Reid would be the only one who couldn't use his arms.

"Yeah, turn around kid," Morgan told him. Peter turned around, and lifted his arms up a little to help out. The ropes around his wrists were tight. Whoever tied the rope together knew what they were doing, but Morgan knew ropes too. He worked at it for a few minutes, but he eventually got it loose enough and it fell around the boy's wrists. Peter's wrists, bright red with pretty bad blistering, fell to his side. The first thing Peter did was raise his hands to his face to examine his missing finger. The blanket shred Morgan wrapped around the hand and finger hole was still on him, but the pinky was totally gone.

"Feel better?" Morgan asked him after he had a few moments to let it sink in the kid's finger was really gone.

"Thank you," Peter said softly.

"Just try to dry off kid," Morgan said turning his attention to Reid. The kid did as he was told, but there was a lot to dry off and Morgan's shirt was already wet. Reid was still shivering. It didn't seem as bad as earlier, but he was going to get shirt if he didn't get some of that water off of him. Morgan just wished he could get Reid's hands out of those damned cuffs.

"Was there anything else on the news?" Reid asked. "Did you see J.J. again or Hotch?"

Morgan thought back. He wasn't paying much attention the news. "I saw J.J. again. I didn't pay much attention to what she was saying, but they are looking for two males. She didn't say how she knew the unsubs were males, but they got that much down. Males in their 20s. They didn't mention my name or your name, but they showed a picture of the girl that was killed earlier and Peter. Peter's mother was still next to J.J."

Peter looked up when his name was mentioned, and glanced at the television, but the station was on a commercial.

"Maybe there was video footage of one of the abductions," Reid said. "All of us were taken from public places. At least one of them had to have a security camera."

"Reid, turn around," Morgan said. "I'm going to dry off your hair a little more. You can throw all the statistics you want at me, but you will sick if you sit underneath the air conditioner with wet hair and skin." Reid didn't argue. He turned around, and Morgan used the other half of his shirt to dry of the boy genius' back and the ends of his hair. He was going to look a lot different with his hair shorter like that. It wouldn't be that bad if it was even at least, but his hair cutter had no idea what the hell he was doing.

"Did my mother say anything?" Peter asked. Morgan finished drying Reid off, and put the soaking wet shirt on the carpet. He wished it could be kept on Reid's shoulders for added warmth, but it was just too damn wet.

"She wants you to come home," Morgan said turning around to face Peter. The blonde kid also put what was left of Morgan's shirt on the carpet. "She was still at the dance studio with your little sister, but don't worry kid. Our team is coming. We're going to get out of this."

Peter nodded, and looked back towards the television. Morgan collected the two pieces of wet clothing, and scooted over towards the window. He put both pieces near the window. They wouldn't dry quickly, but they would dry. "If you guys want to throw over your boxers, I'm not looking. You guys will get warmer without them."

Morgan wasn't going to pressure them. If they wanted to keep them on, they could, but then Peter threw his boxers over the couch. Morgan scooted forward to collect the wet shorts, and about a minute later, Reid's pair joined the little pile. From the direction of where they were thrown from, it looked like Peter had to help Reid throw them over. Morgan put both boxers next to the shirt pieces to dry. The air conditioning was hitting them so it wouldn't take that long to dry. He hoped. Morgan wasn't planning on going around the couch again till the shorts were all dry, but the sound of the door unlocking made him turn around quickly.

He couldn't get back around the couch by the time the door opened. Reid had time to get behind one of the armrests and Peter was over by the bookcase. Anthony led the way in, as usual, with Michael at his tail. Michael locked the door behind them, and Morgan was disgusted to see a spray bottle in one hand and cupcake in Michael's other hand. He was eating it like he didn't have a care in the world. It made Morgan nauseous. Peter was the first one they found, and Anthony was laughing loudly when he saw Peter had ditched his wet shorts.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Michael?" Anthony asked. "Oh good Lord, what are you doing down there kid? You guys having some kind of sexy party and we weren't invited?" He laughed again, and pointed the gun he was holding at Peter's head. "Stand up. Let's see what you're hiding. We'll only judge a little bit."

Morgan tried clearing his throat to attract their attention his way, but it didn't work. They were fully fixed on humiliating Peter, and there was nothing Morgan could do to stop it. Peter slowly found his footing, and pushed himself up. He probably wasn't even thinking when he covered himself with his hands, but the captors noticed.

"Hands down kid," Anthony said. Michael took another bite of his cupcake, and Peter did what he told. His hands fell to his side while he was examined fully by Michael and Anthony. Michael didn't say anything, but Anthony was clapping. "See now? That wasn't so bad. Was it? Do you think that was too much to ask of him Michael?"

"Nope," Michael said. He took the wrapping off his cupcake and let it fall to the floor.

"Mister Tom Carey," Anthony called out. "We'd like for you to join us. Come on over." Peter tried to sit back down, but Anthony kicked him. He had to remain standing.

Reid crawled out from behind the arm of the couch, and Morgan's heart broke when Reid tried standing up. He didn't have the use of his hands, and he was still shivering from the tub. When he finally lifted himself on his feet, he fell right back down. Anthony and Michael started laughing. Morgan scooted over, and used his arms to help Reid get balanced, but Morgan didn't get out of the way. He didn't want Reid over there.

"You can see him fine from here," Morgan shouted. "Thought you guys were going to give them a little time to dry off. They are freezing, and you gave us time to fix Peter's finger."

"Did we say we were giving them some alone time?" Anthony asked. Michael shook his head, and stuffed the last bit of cupcake in his mouth. "We never said that, but we are asking very nicely that your friend gets his butt over here. I don't mean to be cruel, but I'm not against using force to get what I want done." He raised his gun at Peter's forehead and smiled.

Reid walked around Morgan, and stood next to Peter. Neither one of them were looking at their captors. Peter had his gaze focused on a spot on the opposite wall, and Reid's wandering eyes kept finding their way to the television. The news was back on, but they weren't talking about the case. Both of them were trembling, and almost on cue, Michael started squirting both of them with the spray bottle. The water got on their faces, chests, stomachs, and he made sure to get plenty on their hair.

"See? Not that bad, right?" Anthony said lowering the gun. "Now that we've seen everything, there is nothing else to hide. We're all friends again. Like what you see Morgan Freeman?"

Morgan bit his tongue hard enough to bring the blood. "What do you want?" he asked them.

"Right," Anthony said taking a step back. "Me and Michael started talking, and we made a bet when we were out there adjusting the air conditioning. Since you guys are all active members in this game, we wanted to tell you. Our bet which is on which one of you leaves us next."

Reid finally looked at Anthony, but Morgan couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Michael here was thinking that Tom goes next, but my bet is on Peter. There isn't any question it's one of the younger two, but it will be interesting to see which one goes first." Michael squirted more water on their faces and laughed.

"If you're going to kill us, why don't you just get it over with?" Peter asked. His teeth were clattering in his mouth, and Reid looked like he was close to falling over.

Michael squirted water directly in Peter's face and leaned forward. "You can't forget the importance of entertainment." Michael barely said anything to them this entire time, and the first words Morgan really heard him say sent chills down his spine.

* * *

Hotch hated their situation. He was back at the police station with Rossi looking over the only photos they got of their unsubs. Prentiss and J.J. stayed at the dance studio after Hotch advised her to talk to reporters. There was a chance the unsubs were watching, and seeing their young ages, they probably had mothers. None of the victims were parents, and so it didn't look like they were trying to get revenge from something terrible that happened during their childhood. Hotch just couldn't get his mind wrapped around that the four people abducted seemed so random. The only connection Hotch could find between the four was that Reid and Morgan worked together, but the unsubs wouldn't have known that. They weren't stalking their victims, and the attacks weren't that planned out. It was all just opportunity.

Hotch told J.J. not to mention Reid or Morgan yet. Reid's ID was found in his bag, and it was possible the unsubs didn't know they abducted federal agents yet. Hotch didn't want to put them in anymore danger by mentioning that on the news report. They never found Morgan's ID, but Hotch was going to wait on telling the media that part of the search for now. Instead, he made sure the report focused on Wilson and the Boyle kid. It was a possibility that one of the unsubs could see Boyle's crying mother and back out of the entire thing. It wasn't a likely possibility, but Hotch wasn't ruling anything out yet.

Rossi stood up and looked at the photos they set up on the wall. It was a terrible photo of the man driving, but that's all they had to go on. They also found some footage of Morgan and Reid wandering around the bookstore. The footage showed Reid purchasing the book, and they left together. There weren't any cameras outside of the store.

"Okay," Rossi said pointing at one of the photos. "So it says Reid and Morgan left the store at 7:05pm. Boyle last texted his mother at 6:37pm, and he was abducted soon after that so that leaves about 15 minutes between the two abductions. Wilson was taken from the parking lot at 5:32pm which is over an hour before they took Boyle. So they got her, drove her back to their hideout and left again to get Boyle. Let's assume all they did at their place was tie her up and lock her in some room. I'm saying that would take about 20 minutes tops."

"So it's a 40 minute drive back to where they were originally," Hotch said standing up. He pulled a map of the area closer to him and circled the dance studio location.

"If they wanted to get all of this done before it got too late, that's why they just kept Boyle in the car when they got Reid and Morgan," Rossi said. It made sense to Hotch too. They needed to get the people they wanted and get out of there.

"So 40 minutes in any direction," Hotch said. "White sedan going normal speed to not draw attention to itself. But we don't know if they took the freeway."

Rossi walked over to the map and looked down at it. "They had 3 men in the backseat. I think they wanted to get to where they were going fast. Even if they had Morgan tied up, he's still a threat and he could have gotten control of the car. They probably took the freeway."

"Okay, so about a minute a mile," Hotch said mumbling. Heading south or west led them to a residential community. They both looked upper class which would fit the profile of what the unsubs were wearing. They were both well dressed, and the car looked clean. A third direction led them to a some kind of state park, and the last one would have taken them to a trailer park. Hotch was leaning towards one of the neighborhoods. If the house was big enough, it would have been easy to hide the victims. They had the cover of dark on their side, and the houses looked like they were really spaced out from each other.

"We could send deputies to all of these places, but we don't really know enough yet to say where they are," Rossi said looking back over at the photos. The man driving the car had a smug look on his face. It was blurry, but it looked like he was almost mocking the camera. Hotch didn't like it, and if this guy knew there was a camera there, he wanted his picture taken.

The phone on the table started ringing, and Hotch put it on speaker after the first ring. He needed to hear good news. "Hotch," he told the phone.

"Hey boss man," Garcia's voice said filling the room. "Have you heard from them yet?"

"Not yet," Hotch said. "Did you find out anything?" Hotch was having her look up recent crimes like this in the state. He knew the list would be massive, but he narrowed it down to people who went missing the same day within an hour from each other in the same area. It was really all they had to go on.

"There's been so many disappearances in this state. It's absolutely mind bobbling, and I haven't been looking for that long, but I did find one that kinda reminded me of this one. Three people went missing in late January. Just like a few weeks ago. Two men and a lady. One of the men and the woman were a couple, and they were abducted from a movie theater, and like half an hour later, the other man was abducted. Sending the poor people who were kidnapped to your phones. They lived about 2 hours from here. "

"How old were they?" Hotch asked. From what he heard so far, it did sound like the same people.

"What were their jobs?" Rossi asked. He pulled the photos up on his phone, and showed the smiling couple to Hotch. They looked like they were both in their 30s. They both had brown eyes. The woman was a brunette; the man next to her was a blonde. Hotch put his hands on his head. He still couldn't pinpoint a type.

"Okay, um, the woman was named Dani Sue Cutler. She was 32 years old. Worked as a nurse. She was engaged to Billy Blackwell. He was a 37 year old doctor. How romantic is that? Nurse marrying a doctor. They worked in the same hospital. Third victim was a 25 year old guy named Tyler Dolan. He worked in retail."

"Were any of the bodies ever found?" Rossi asked. He pulled up the photo of Tyler on his phone. Tyler had dark hair and blue eyes.

"They found Dani Sue's body the morning after she went missing," Garcia said quietly. "They never found the bodies of the guys, and it looks like the search for them was extensive."

That meant they killed the victims overnight. "How was she killed?" Hotch asked.

"They found her on the side of the highway, but she didn't die there," Garcia said. "She was stabbed to death. Someone stabbed her 27 times sir." Garcia sounded close to tears. "And my babies are with the monsters that did this."

"We're going to find them," Rossi said trying to reassure her. "They're going to be alright."

"Alright," Garcia said sniffling. "I'm getting these pictures off my screen, and I'll try to see if I can find any other cases like this. Garcia out."

Hotch sat back in his chair, and they sat in silence for a minute after she hung up. "They keep their victims less than 24 hours. They are killed at the location they are taken to, and the bodies are dropped off somewhere else."

"But why was only one body ever found?" Rossi asked. "What do the unsubs do with the other bodies?"

"And they left her by the freeway where they knew she would be found," Hotch said. "So they went out of their way to make sure the 2 men were never found, and decided to just drop her body off when they were going back home. They are mocking the police. They don't think they are ever going to get caught."

"That also means that Reid and Morgan and the others don't have a lot of time left," Rossi said.

Hotch glanced at the time on his phone. It wasn't even midnight yet, but Rossi was right. They were running out of time. Hotch really wanted to wait until a body was found so they could pinpoint the area where Reid and Morgan was, but time wasn't on their side. "Okay, let's call J.J. and Prentiss and let them know what we found. Maybe they have news that we don't know about yet."

Hotch stood up to stretch his legs, and went back over to the photographs posted on their board. There had to be some kind of connection that he was missing. That connection might lead the team right to Morgan and Reid, and the monsters that took them.

 _yay chapter 5. if u guys have any opinions on where the story should go, plz put it in the review or write me. i wasnt planning on any non con for this story, but lemme know if u wanna see that. its going to be getting pretty bloody by the next chapter so be warned lol. plz review! till next time my good friends xoxoxo_


	6. Chapter 6

_good afternoon chapter 6. it is very nice to meet u. my muse is totally back and she has been helping me lots so thank u very much muse. ill name you ciara after the muse from xanadu. anyway, lots of warnings for this chapter: language (usually language), extreme violence, and non con. its only going to keep getting more brutal from here so watch out. enjoy the chapter friends_

Anthony kept both of the boys on their feet while he thought of what to do next. With his previous victims, none of them lasted long. He wouldn't let them last longer than a few hours, but there was something different about Peter and Tom. There was spunk hidden deep within their eyes, and he wanted to break that spunk. Once the spunk was gone, their lives would soon follow. Without any warning, Anthony swung a punch on Tom's cheek. The punch was so hard it swung Tom's head around, and he fell on his knees. He cried out from the sudden pain, and when he looked back up at them, his cheek was dark red and blood was coming out of the side of his mouth. Anthony smiled.

"Hey man!" the agent shouted from the floor. "That was uncalled for!"

Anthony didn't take his eyes off of the two prisoners in front of him, and he never lost his grip on Morgan's gun. "Michael, would you mind tying up Morgan Freeman? I don't think he's going to like what we're going to do next."

Morgan pushed himself onto his butt, and used his arms to scoot back away from them. He couldn't do that much anyway, but Anthony didn't want to risk it. The FBI agent looked like he worked out often from the size of his arms. It would be better for everyone if he couldn't get in the way of their plans. "You aren't touching me. Either one of you."

Anthony sighed loudly, and pulled young Peter next to him. He put the gun next to Peter's temple, and he swore he could hear the kid's heart pounding in his chest. "You will cooperate unless you want to see this boy's brains all over the floor."

"You're bluffing," the dark agent managed to say, but he didn't look convinced himself.

"Want to try me?" Anthony said smiling. Peter looked like he was about to cry, and Tom was staying quiet on the floor. Michael picked up the rope near the couch, and slowly made his way over to Agent Bigmouth.

As hard as it probably was for the agent, he kept his mouth shut. He kept his eyes locked on his friends, and he didn't say anything as Michael pulled him back towards the staircase. The ropes were tied to one of the railings. It wouldn't hold him long term with muscles like he had, but it would do for now. Anthony was the only one in charge here, and we would kill them if things didn't go his way. It wouldn't be fun or exciting for them just to die with bullets to their heads, but he would just find more prisoners in the morning if that happened.

"Back on your feet skinny," Anthony told Tom. When the dweeb made no move to get back up, Anthony kicked him on the thigh. Tom took a deep breath, and used the wall behind him as support to get on his feet. It wasn't helping much, and when Anthony took a step back, Peter turned around and helped his friend get up. When Tom was finally standing next to Peter, Anthony clapped.

"Okay, so I'm sure you guys are really curious about our plans," Anthony said smiling. "We are going to play a game. Sounds fun, right?"

Neither one of the boys answered him. Tom kept stealing glances at bigmouth agent, and Peter had his eyes pretty much glued to the floor. That was so rude. Anthony wanted to save the surprise for later, but the guys were leaving him no choice. He pulled the dagger out from the back of his jeans, and sliced it across Peter's stomach before the idiot knew what hit him. Dark blood followed the trail the weapon left across the kid's tummy, and Peter screamed. It wasn't a deep cut. Anthony didn't want to kill them yet. He wanted them to pay attention. Tom looked over at Peter's bloody cut, and stepped in front of him like he wanted to shield the boy, but Anthony was done with the knife. For now.

"Like I said, sounds fun right?" Anthony asked with a firmer voice.

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Michael answered stepping next to the boys. Anthony didn't want Michael to answer, but it worked. Tom and Reid were finally paying attention.

"After the game, we can all break for lunch. I'll make some toast for all of us to share. I know I always get hungry after playing," Anthony said. None of the guys answered, and he couldn't honestly imagine any of them would be the least bit hungry with what was going on. They would be thirsty for sure, but not hungry, and he wasn't planning on giving them water.

"What kind of a game?" Michael asked. Tubby seemed like he was only one who was really paying attention.

"You two are just digging yourselves further and further into the hole," the agent shouted. "You know that? Unless you let Peter and Re-Tom go right this instant, the courts aren't going to go easy on you. You understand that? Get that through your thick skulls? Let them go!"

Anthony noticed the mess up saying Tom's name. It wasn't that difficult to pronounce Tom, and those two obviously knew each other before the abduction. Tom didn't flinch when the agent almost got his name wrong, but Peter looked over at the agent with worry in his eyes. Morgan and Tom were hiding something. He decided not to mention it right then because he wanted to get playing the game, but he wasn't going to forget. Those two were hiding something.

"I will put a bullet in Tom's brain right now if you don't shut up," Anthony warned. The agent looked over at his buddy, and shut his mouth. Anthony lowered the weapon. "Okay, I'll tell you guys the rules of the game if you listen." Lines of blood were dripping down Peter's slash, and every now of then, Peter would wince from the pain. This was going well so far.

"I want to play," Morgan shouted from his spot by the stairs. Anthony rolled his eyes.

"Maybe later," Anthony told him. "I only need 2 players." Anthony nodded at Michael to go get the pot they left in the hallway. Michael took the cue and left. That guy was good for something Anthony guessed. "Game is trivia. Simple enough, right?"

Tom looked up at the mention of trivia, and his eyes lit up. Anthony didn't care. His trivia questions were always hard. "The winner is the one who is still standing by the end of the game."

"Why would the other guy be on the ground?" Peter asked. As if on cue, Michael strolled back holding the pot in his hands. The pot wasn't that big. They couldn't find anything bigger in Tatiana's kitchen, but it would serve its purpose.

"Would you like to show them Michael?" Anthony asked stepping back. "Aim for their knees if possible. Boys are used to getting scabby knees."

Both boys were already backing up. Tom was looking at the pot with his big eyes just as Michael tossed the boiling water on them. It splattered across their lower thighs and knees, and Anthony shut his eyes when he saw the skin on their knees almost start to sizzle. Both of the boys screamed, and bent over from the immediate pain. It wasn't a lot of water though, and it probably cooled down some from sitting in the hallway, but at least the players knew what they were dealing with now. Morgan couldn't refrain himself from cursing from where he sat. It made Anthony smile.

"This, my new friends, is why you would be on the ground," Anthony told them when they got their breathing under control. "Of course, every wrong answer won't result in scalding water. We do have other goodies like hammers, and Peter is all too familiar with my little knife. Are you ready to play?"

"They look like they're ready," Michael said giggling. Anthony saw the younger man already reaching for his hammer. They were ready to begin.

"First question will be for Tom," Anthony said. He put his still gloved hands together, and reached them up to his mouth like he was thinking of a good question. He already had questions lined up though. He had been doing this much too long. "What was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope?"

Tom licked his lips nervously, but didn't break eye contact with Anthony. "Uranus was the first planed discovered using the telescope in 1781."

Morgan was laughing, but Anthony ignored him. Michael even looked slightly disappointed, but it wasn't that hard of a question. "Lucky guess. Peter, your turn."

Peter looked at Tom for some kind of emotional support, but he couldn't be as lucky as the best buddy of the FBI agent.

"Who was the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia?" Anthony asked.

Peter bit his lip. "I, uh." He looked pathetically at Tom for help, but help wasn't allowed. "Um, was it Olga?"

"Wrong!" Anthony shouted. Before Peter could figure out some way out, Michael grabbed the hammer from his back pocket, and slammed the hammer onto Peter's left kneecap. Anthony swore he heard some kind of cracking as the hammer collided with the bone, but he couldn't be sure. All he knew for sure was that it hurt like hell having that kind of injury over the blistered skin, and Peter screamed again. Peter fell on his good knee, but Tom caught up before he fell all the way down. Tom held out his legs, and Peter caught himself on that.

Tears were running down Peter's eyes, but he got himself back on his feet. He refused to look at Anthony again. That amused Anthony.

"Her name was Anastasia," Anthony said when the excitement from Peter getting the question wrong was over. "Next question for Tom. Who averaged one patent for every three weeks of his life?" Anthony smiled. This was a hard question.

"Thomas Edison," Tom answered without even taking a breath. Anthony always gave credit where it was deserved, and Tom certainly knew his trivia.

"Peter, what time did the Titanic sink?" Michael was already swinging the hammer back and forth in his hand, and Anthony was sure it was freaking the already nervous Peter out.

"Um," Peter was biting his lip again. "2:20am. Right. 2:20am."

Michael didn't stop swinging the hammer to smack him. The kid was right. This game was proving to be a lot more interesting than Anthony had planned. "If someone suffers from oneirophobia, what are they afraid of Tom?"

"Dreams," Tom said without missing a bit. Tom told everyone earlier that he liked to read, but what exactly did this guy read? Textbooks?

"Okay Peter, who was the Roman god of fruit?" Anthony asked.

Peter glanced at Tom, but it was obvious that blondie didn't know the answer. Anthony wasn't going to wait to see if Peter could come up with it. He nodded at Michael, and the younger man lunged at Michael. The hammer went down on Peter's shoulder, and the kid screamed again. Anthony never liked predicting the winners of games. He was usually bad at it, but he had a feeling that the mysterious Tom was going to win this round.

* * *

Prentiss hated this feeling. It didn't feel like they were really accomplishing that much at the dance studio. J.J. was using some impressive coping skills with Boyle's mother. The woman was frantic that her only son had been kidnapped. Boyle's father took the younger sister to get a late night icecream as a distraction, but it seemed like nothing would stop the woman from crying. It broke Prentiss' heart, and she wondered when Reid's mother would be notified. She prayed they would bring Morgan and the boy genius back home before Reid's mother would ever know he was missing. Prentiss sat on one of the chairs in the back office. She just wanted to be away from the reporters outside and concerned parents wanting to know if it would be safe to bring their children back to their dance lessons next week.

J.J. found her a few minutes later. Boyle's mother wasn't screaming anymore, but Prentiss could still hear her sobbing. Nothing could tear at the heart strings more than a mother crying for her child. J.J. brushed the stray hairs from her face, but didn't say anything. They hadn't even had the case for more than a few hours, and they were already exhausted. They didn't have any leads other than the unsubs live about forty minutes from the dance studio. Prentiss was willing to go door to door if it led to that though. She would do anything to bring the boys back home, and she felt so guilty about not taking Reid to the bookstore. Maybe none of this would have happened if she offered to go with him.

"Agents?" An officer knocked softly on the door and peaked his head in. "I have a young lady here who would like to speak with you. She said she witnessed one of the abductions."

Prentiss lifted her head up. A young girl clutching a few books in her arms stepped in the doorway. Her curly red hair ran down past her elbows, and Prentiss could just make out the freckles this girl was trying to hide behind her make up. She wore a red shirt underneath a black jacket and a pair of dark blue jeans, but she stood hunched over like she really didn't want to be there. The police officer helped her further into the room, but then left to go back to his other duties. J.J. stood up, and offered the girl a seat across from Prentiss.

"Hi, my name is J.J." she said smiling. "And this is Emily. What's your name?"

"Eva," she said quickly. "Eva Bloom. I'm not supposed to be out. My dad is going to kill me."

"Why?" Prentiss asked. The girl was fidgeting, and kept looking down at her short finger nails.

"Dad doesn't like me going out alone, but I really wanted to go to the bookstore. They were having some sale, and I want to spend my birthday money the way I want to so I snuck out and now I'm pretty sure he's going to kill me."

Prentiss smiled. They didn't meet book fanatics that often, and the one time they did, Reid wasn't there. Eva was shifting her weight from one leg to the other, but she didn't sit down.

"Which abduction did you see?' J.J. asked changing the subject.

"Book store," Eva said. She avoided eye contact with them. "Two guys. You didn't mention them on the news. I was watching at home so then I was thinking it was probably nothing or someone else called it in. I mean, I'm sure someone else saw it too. Right? But then I kept thinking, what if they didn't see anything? It kinda looked like one of the guys got hurt."

"Would you mind coming down to the station with us?" Prentiss asked. "What you saw was really important, and we want to see what you remember before too much time passes."

Eva didn't look too eager to come with them, but she didn't run out either. "I guess. Does this mean my dad is going to find out I snuck out?"

J.J. called Hotch, and he was outside to meet them when they arrived at the station with Eva. She accepted a coffee to drink, and she ended up calling her dad when they found out she was under 18. Her dad would probably be calling the police soon if he didn't find her in her room. Hotch spoke with her father, and they both agreed that it was good to find out what Eva saw.

"Why didn't you tell anyone earlier?" Rossi asked her while they were waiting on Hotch. Prentiss agreed. If Eva called the police when she first saw the abduction, the police would have easily been able to catch them.

"I thought somebody else would call," Eva mumbled. "I really did. Why didn't you guys mention them on the news? I saw a woman got abducted from the movie theater and a guy from the dance studio, but no one mentioned the bookstore guys."

"What did they look like?" Prentiss asked. They needed to make sure Eva really did see Morgan and Reid get taken. "The guys who were abducted I mean."

"Black guy," Eva said thinking back. "No hair. He was with a skinnier guy. I think his hair was brown maybe. He had like a messenger bag or something."

Prentiss looked at J.J. and Rossi. Eva really did see the abductions of Reid and Morgan. J.J. was chosen to be the one to talk to Eva about what she saw. J.J. was closest to the girl's age, and Eva did seem more relaxed when J.J. was around. J.J. took her to the conference room while the others waited outside the door. Eva sat across from J.J. She still had a book on her lap, but she left her others books along with her purse in the coffee room.

"Okay Eva, I know this will seem strange, but just go with me on this. Okay?" J.J. asked. "Doing it like this will help you remember things that you might have forgotten earlier."

"Okay," Eva said.

"Close your eyes." Eva smiled at first like she thought it was a joke, but when J.J. didn't start laughing, Eva closed her blue eyes. "Okay, think back to earlier tonight. You're at the bookstore. Why are you at the bookstore?"

"They were having a sale," Eva said.

"Was there a book you wanted in particular?" J.J. asked.

"Where the Red Fern Grows," Eva said. "I got a lot of books, but I really wanted that one. I read it in 6th grade, and it's always been one of my favorite books so I wanted my own copy."

"Did you see anyone else in the bookstore? Was it crowded?" J.J. asked.

"No," Eva said. "I actually didn't see anyone in the store. Except for like the people working there, but I didn't see anyone else but me buying the books. I didn't see the guys there."

"Did you stay to read for a little bit or did you leave right away?"

Eva was doing a good job at keeping her eyes close, but her hands kept fidgeting. "I couldn't stay. I had to get home before dad caught me."

"Could you smell anything outside? Was it windy?"

"No," Eva said. "No wind. It was cold though, and it still kinda smelled like the rain from yesterday. Super cold though. I had to zip my jacket all the way up."

"Did you have to walk home or did you take a car?"

"I had to walk," Eva said quietly. "I couldn't take the car or dad would hear me so I crossed the street. I was going to start reading one of the books on the way home, but I stopped when I heard someone shouting. I thought it was going to be a fight. This isn't exactly a well-lit neighborhood, and it's always kinda scary walking home at night."

"Who was shouting?" J.J. asked.

"The bald guy. Big muscles. He was standing next to the skinny guy. He was talking to some other guy. I couldn't hear what they were saying though."

"What was the other guy wearing? Did he have brown hair?"

"Blonde hair. It looked greasy and hung around his face. White sweater and black pants. And white gloves. Like golfing gloves or something. They weren't something that most people walk around in. The skinny guy handed him a cell phone. So I didn't think anything of it and went back to reading."

"What made you stop reading?"

"The blonde guy dropped the cell phone in the water," Eva said. She stopped fidgeting. "So the skinny guy ran to get his phone and then this other guy came out of nowhere. I saw him before the bald guy did, but I didn't say anything. I ducked behind a car in the street so they wouldn't see me."

"Why were you hiding?"

"I was scared," Eva said. "The other guy was dressed like the blonde guy. He even had those same freaky gloves on, but his hair was brown. They were talking again, but then the blonde one got the skinny guy on his knees and it looked like he was going to cut his throat or something. I covered up my mouth so they wouldn't hear me breathing. It was so scary. The bald guy had a gun out, but they weren't letting go of the skinny guy."

"Did the gun with the gun try to shoot at?" J.J. asked.

"No," Eva said. "He put the gun down when they threatened his friend, and then they hit the bald guy with something. Big bar. It hit his leg and he fell down. And so I ducked down again cause I knew the weirdos had his gun now. I didn't want them to see me."

"Did you see anything else?"

"When I looked back again, they were putting the skinny guy and the bald guy in a white car," Eva said. "Guy with brown hair was driving. They put the guys in the back seat, not the trunk. Don't bad guys usually put victims in the trunk?"

"Could you see anyone else in the backseat with the guys?" J.J. asked.

Eva bit her lip while she was thinking back. "No, but I wasn't that close. They were parked across the street." Eva opened her eyes and looked directly at J.J. "Was there someone else in the car? Was it that lady or guy that got kidnapped from the dance studio?"

"We need to find an artist," Rossi said from behind the doors. "Have her describe the unsubs. We only have a blurry photo of the guy driving, and she saw both of them."

Hotch nodded, and went off to find an artist at the station. Prentiss was sure they had one. She looked back at J.J. and Eva, and Eva had moved to be closer to J.J. "Did I help at all?"

"You helped at a lot," J.J. told her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone before," Eva said. "I'm really sorry."

Prentiss was still a little bit annoyed at the girl just because, they would have been able to stop the unsubs from taking Reid and Morgan if she called the police when it first happened. There was no point in complaining about it now though. It was too late. The white gloved pair did have Morgan and Reid, but the team was going to make sure the unsubs didn't have them for too long. They were going to bring Reid and Morgan back home.

* * *

Reid knew the answer to every single question that Anthony asked, but when it was clear that Peter didn't know the answers, Reid got them wrong too. It wasn't because he didn't know the answers. He just didn't want Peter to be the one to lose. They didn't know what would be the fate of the one who lost, but it wasn't going to be something good. Every time he got the answer wrong, Michael either slammed down on his toes with the hammer or he was cut with Anthony's knife. Reid didn't know which was worse, but after three of his toes were broken, he was starting to lose balance. He kept his back against the wall to support his weight, but it was getting harder and harder. His left shoulder was bleeding from the last cut he got, and his knees still felt like they were on fire from the boiling water, but after all of this, he was still cold. The water never dried from the bath earlier and the air conditioning was still on full blast.

"Who was the first person to win the Nobel Peace Prize?" Anthony asked Peter. Peter didn't even look up. His right knee was bleeding profusely from Anthony's knife, and Reid was pretty sure the boy's knee had actually broken from the hammer earlier. He had one of his hands over the still bleeding cut on his stomach, and Reid could count three dark bruises forming over Peter's stomach and chest. Neither one of them could stand much longer.

"I don't know," Peter whispered. Michael smiled, and slammed the hammer down onto Peter's left knee. Peter cried out from the pain and finally collapsed on the carpet. Reid followed him and let himself fall on his knees. He didn't want Peter to be alone. Tear were running down the boy's face, and Reid scooted next to him.

"And congratulations goes to Tom for winning the game," Anthony said clapping. "It was wonderful how everyone participated, but every game must have a winner and must have a loser. This game's loser is, of course, Peter. Michael, would you mind so much helping Peter in front of the couch? There's more room over there, and Tom. It would be best for you to just stay put for now unless you want to cause more harm to your friends."

Reid looked over at Peter, but decided to stay quiet. Anthony already proved time and time again that he carried through with threats, and Reid didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Michael got a handful of Peter's hair, and dragged him over by the couch. A trail of blood stained the carpet from Peter's knees, and Peter was trembling all over.

"This needs to stop now," Morgan called out. "You have your little fun already. They need to rest." Morgan pulled against his restraints, and Reid thought about going over to him. Reid felt safer when Morgan was near, and he felt so tired from the short but brutal attacks. He was sure it was the blood loss that was making him feel light headed, but he'd give almost anything for a nap. He brought his legs up to his chest to cover himself up, but he didn't move from the spot.

"Help Peter on his stomach," Anthony said. Anthony walked over to where Michael was with Peter, and Reid's breath caught in his throat when he saw Anthony unzip his pants. Peter struggled a little, but the kid had no idea what was going on behind him. Michael got Peter on his stomach just as Anthony was lowering his pants.

"Hey!" Morgan shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Peter tried turning around, but Michael smacked him across the cheek. "Just showing you boys who is in charge. I've never tried this before, but it could be interesting." Anthony stepped out of his boxers and got on his knees behind Peter. Reid wasn't sure if Peter knew exactly what was going on, but he started fighting even more.

"Get off of me!" Peter shouted weakly. Michael was holding Peter down by his shoulders, but that didn't stop the kid from kicking out his legs, but it wasn't helping.

"Leave him alone!" Morgan yelled out. "You wanna fight somebody? Well, come on over. I'm sitting right here!"

Reid licked his lips, and pushed himself against the wall. He got both heels firmly on the ground, and pushed himself to his feet. He almost lost balance again, but he caught himself before he fell. He clumsily walked over to where Peter was desperately fighting, and he allowed himself to fall when he was by Peter. Anthony looked surprised.

"Take me instead," Reid heard himself saying. Reid could barely understand his own words. All he knew was that he didn't want some poor kid to be hurt anymore. "I'll take his place."

"A trade?" Anthony asked. He sounded amused. He nodded at Michael. Reid couldn't figure out their relationship still, and when he was calmer, he needed to figure out what it was. They weren't brothers. They didn't even seem like close friends so why was Michael even there? Michael released Peter from his bruising grip, and Reid watched as Peter scampered behind the couch near Morgan. He was safe. That is what Reid had to keep telling himself. Peter was safe.

Reid felt himself being pushed down face first on the carpet. His cheek hit the floor with alarming force, and strange hands were feeling down his back. Reid's breath caught in his throat. He knew what he signed up for when he volunteered to take Peter's place, but the reality of what was about to happen hit him hard.

"Let him go!" Morgan shouted again. He was pulling wildly at his restraints, and Reid closed his eyes. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst from his chest.

"You fellows sure don't know the rules of a game," Anthony said. "The losers lose, and the winners win. It's that simple."

"This isn't a game!" Morgan yelled. "This isn't some dumb ass game! Let him go now!"

Reid closed his eyes to pretend he was somewhere else. He was sure he could do that if he tried enough, but he felt his legs being spread. When he felt an erection pressing at his entrance, he immediately tried scooting away. He couldn't go through with this. Anthony started laughing again, and pulled Reid back towards him. Reid had to keep his eyes closed. It would be the only way to get through this, but Peter's loud pleas opened his eyes.

Michael was dragging Peter by his hair back to where Reid was. Michael's pants were already off, and he easily forced the kid back on his stomach. Peter was moving his body every which way in an attempt to throw Michael off of him, but Michael outweighed the skinny Peter by at least 50lbs. Reid looked over at Morgan, but Morgan looked just as bewildered as Reid was. Reid tried scooting over to help Peter, but Anthony held him in place. Reid's breathing sped up, and he tried moving his hands but they wouldn't budge in the handcuffs. He couldn't do anything.

"Let him go!" Reid begged. "Please. It was just supposed to be one of us." Where was the team? Were they on their way?

"Exciting, isn't it?" Anthony asked. "We've never done this before. We've always been respectful of other people's bodies, but this is a fun change. Who knows? We might like it."

"You said only the loser had to do this," Reid heard himself saying. Peter was looking at him with fear in his eyes.

"Who said we play fair?" Anthony said. He was laughing again, and Reid felt the still gloved hand take a firm hold of his shoulder. Morgan was still cursing, but Reid couldn't hear what he was saying anymore. All Reid could do was watch Michael position himself behind Peter, and push his way inside. A bone chilling scream escaped Peter's lips, but Reid wasn't given time to register what exactly was going on as a white piercing pain ran through Reid's body. Anthony pushed himself as far as he could into Reid. Tissues were ripping as Reid's muscles reluctantly let Anthony inside, and Reid's own blood was serving as lubricant. Reid screamed. He screamed until his voice gave out, and even then, his loud cries were filling the room. Every sharp thrust from Anthony sent agonizing bursts of pain through his already taxed body.

Reid cracked his eyes back open, and the first thing he saw was Peter sobbing beside him. He was still putting up a fight, but he was too weak to get the much heavier Michael off of him. There was nothing either one of them could do except for wait for the unsubs to be finished with them. Reid never could have imagined this would hurt as bad as it did. The uneven thrusts from Anthony made it feel like he was being sawed in half. Reid knew what pain was, but nothing he felt in his entire life could have prepared him for this. He probably knew enough about the subject of rape to write a book on it, and he talked to countless victims of rape over the years. He never planned on being one of them though. Tears were falling down his face, and there was no way he could even escape mentally. The rough pushes into his body kept bringing him back to the real world.

Michael finished before Anthony did. Reid could see bruises on Peter's thighs as he crawled back behind the couch. Reid rested his cheek back on the carpet when he was sure Michael was going to leave Peter alone, and he closed his eyes just as Anthony spilled hot seed into his body. Anthony let out a content sigh, and pulled of Reid.

"Well, that was exciting. Wasn't it?" Anthony asked. Reid wanted to crawl next to Peter, but he didn't. He was already getting rug burn on his scalded knees, and on top of all of this, he was still trembling. He didn't know if it was from nerves or because he was actually cold, but he couldn't make it stop. He would just get up after Anthony and Michael left. For now, he was perfectly happy lying on the floor.

Michael was out of breath, but Reid saw him sending a wink in Peter's direction. It made Reid's stomach roll. "I had a fun time Anthony."

Anthony and Michael both pulled their pants back up, and Michael was brushing the hair out of his face. Reid did feel more comfortable that Anthony wasn't hovering over him anymore. Reid scooted closer to the couch. His rear end was burning, and his mouth was dry.

"It's time for a lunch break though," Anthony said. He had Reid's blood on his white gloves, but he didn't seem to notice. "I'll going to make some toast. That sounds good, doesn't it? I can add some cinnamon and sugar to it. That was always one of my favorite lunches growing up."

"You guys will love it," Michael said smiling. Reid wasn't hungry. He was so thirsty that he could feel his lips cracking, but he wasn't hungry. The thought of eating anything was enough to make him feel nauseous. He was hoping they would bring some water back with the toast.

"You guys need to stop this," Morgan said. "Just leave us here. We can find our own way out."

Anthony turned to Morgan and smiled. "I'll bring you your late lunch after I eat mine. My stomach is about to start growling. Isn't that embarrassing?"

Peter peaked out from behind the couch to see Reid. He wasn't crying anymore, but his hair was still wet from the bath earlier and he had shadows underneath his eyes. Reid was supposed to have helped him. He was a federal agent, and it was his job to keep people safe, but he couldn't do it. He tried to protect Peter, but he failed miserably. He couldn't even protect himself.

"Pay attention!" Michael shouted when he saw that Reid wasn't watching Anthony. Reid looked over at them, but Michael was already in front of Reid. He took Reid by his hair, and slammed Reid's head down on the floor. He cried out, more from shock that the pain, and he tried twisting his body around to protect his head, but Michael was faster. Michael kicked Reid twice. The first kick slammed into Reid's left eye which almost hurt worse than the hammer breaking Reid's toes. Reid didn't know where the second kick got him. He was knocked out cold from the first kick. Reid welcomed the blackness that swept over him. The last thing he was aware of was Morgan screaming his name.

 _and just like that, chapter 6 is over. i personally think michael is scarier than anthony just because you dont know really what michael is thinking. but i wouldnt want 2 b locked n a room with either one of them. i look forward 2 reading ur reviews for this chapter, but remember, its only going to get worse. im not exactly know for "and everyone lived happily ever after" endings. till next time! xoxoxo_


	7. Chapter 7

_hey guys! angel anastasia here and sorry about the wait. been busy with real life which is never as fun as sitting down and reading a lovely story. in stories, u can be anywhere u want to be and u rnt stuck in working some 9-5 job or dealing with bills or annoying family members. in stories, u can spend the day at Hogwarts and then maybe spend the day celebrating a birthday n the Shire. this story wont take you to some fantastical place like that, but it does give u a little bit of Reid while CM is off for the summer. enjoy!_

Morgan had never been more scared in his entire life than when he had to watch Reid, the baby of their team and one of his best friends, get raped by some psychopath. Reid couldn't even lift up his body under Anthony's weight, and when the creep finally finished with the boy genius, Reid could barely move. Reid crawled near the couch, just out of Morgan's sight, but Morgan could barely breathe. He still couldn't believe what just happened. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be. Just a few hours ago, they were out getting some book that Reid just had to have. It was supposed to be a quiet night. What went wrong? How had getting some damned book led to Reid getting raped? He was sure the kid never even had a sexual experience before this. They never really talked about it before, but Reid was still very awkward around the ladies and his idea of a perfect night was probably him surrounded by books and a fireplace. Morgan saw spots of blood on Reid's thighs and bruising on his hips before Reid moved out of his line of vision, and Morgan knew he would never forgive himself. Everybody would tell him that none of this was his fault. He couldn't have predicted giving a kid some cash would result in this, but he should have known better. He was supposed to protect Reid. Reid knew how to handle a gun, but he wasn't a fighter. He relied on his brain power more than anything, but that wasn't going to save him from a rapist. Only Morgan could do that, but Morgan wasn't there for him.

Morgan was barely even aware of begging for their freedom once Anthony and Michael were finished. He knew he was saying something because Anthony started talking about lunch, but his focus was just on Reid. How could somebody have wanted to hurt Reid like that? Reid was probably one of the last people in the world to deserve to be beaten and abused. Morgan would have gladly taken his place.

"Pay attention!" Michael shouted. Morgan looked up and saw Michael kicking someone in front of the couch. Morgan brought himself out of his thoughts and started pulling at his stubborn restraints again. Whoever Michael kicked didn't make a sound, and it got so quiet in the room after the kicks that Morgan could almost hear his own heart beating.

"That wouldn't have happened if he listened," Anthony said calmly. "I'll see you boys after my lunch. My stomach is seriously about to start growling."

Morgan didn't say one word as they left. Anthony walked out first, and Michael was the one who locked the door after he left. Morgan was so afraid that saying something else would result in Peter or Reid getting hit again. As soon as the rapists were gone, Peter weakly stood up. He was extremely pale, and there was no hiding the dark bruises forming on his inner thighs. Morgan felt sick to his stomach about what they had to go through.

"He kicked Reid? How is he? Reid? Can you hear me?" Morgan asked. Reid didn't respond.

Peter dropped on his knees in front of the couch. "He's still breathing," Peter said. "His eye is going to be really swollen though." Peter's voice was cracking with every other word. It was too easy for Morgan to just forget that Reid wasn't the only one that went through this hell. Peter suffered through a vicious rape too and he was still only in college. All the counseling in the world wouldn't take away the nightmares from the night though.

"Can you help me get out of this rope?" Morgan asked. Morgan's wrists were sore from pulling at the ropes. He was sure he could get them off if he kept trying, but he was exhausted both mentally and physically.

Peter nodded, and hurried over to Morgan. The water finally dried off of Peter's arms and chest, but he was still shivering. Morgan felt terrible. Peter struggled with the ropes. He wasn't as skilled at taking out knots as Morgan was, but the kid finally got them undone. Morgan didn't wait for Peter to announce it. As soon as he felt loose, he crawled over to where Reid was. Reid's big eyes were closed, but Peter was right. He was still breathing. Reid's left eye was already a deep shade of purple, and Morgan could just see a red sore underneath Reid's hair. Morgan took a deep breath, and moved the hair out of the way. The sore didn't look as bad as the black eye did, but it was going to hurt when he woke up. He had a deep slash across one of his shoulders, and it looked like several of his toes were broken, but the worst of all it were the blood spots and bruises on his thighs.

"Oh Reid," Morgan said more to himself than anyone else. They needed to get out of there. Morgan didn't care if he ever saw the light of day again himself, but Peter and Reid needed to go to the hospital. Peter stumbled his way over to where the window was, and he took his boxers from the window. They were still wet, but Peter took them and went back over to where Morgan was sitting with Reid. The kid collapsed just by the coffee table. He looked like he was close to crying as he weakly lifted up his legs. "Let me help you kid."

Morgan scooted over to where Peter was, and let the kid use him to balance himself. Morgan got to see the scalded knees and calves up front, but he couldn't look at them long without cringing. He was sure they hurt like hell. Morgan held the boxers open, and Peter stepped into them slowly. Once that small task was accomplished, he kept his feet grounded and managed to pull the underwear up his legs. Morgan wasn't going to remind him that the wet clothing wasn't going to do anything to help him not get sicker. Peter needed to be covered up. He helped Peter back down so the poor kid wouldn't have to get on his knees again. Peter sat down next to Reid with his knees up to his chest, and stared at the bookcase.

"Do you think you could break one of those shelves and whack it against one of those guys when they come back?" Peter asked.

"One of us would have to be able to stand for more than 5 minutes for that to happen," Morgan said softly. It was a good idea, but they should have thought of attacking the unsubs long before any of this happened. Peter and Reid could still stand up, but not for long periods of time and neither one of them were in any shape to attack Anthony or Michael. Morgan didn't want to admit it, but their only hope of getting out of there was a rescue or an escape.

Peter nodded, and silently ripped a piece of cloth off his boxers. He folded the clothing, and gently dabbed it on Reid's bloody shoulder. The bleeding needed to stop. Morgan pulled himself back towards the window, and went back to work maybe the tiny hole in the glass into a bigger hole. Somebody had to be walking around, and that person would hear their screams. They couldn't be the only ones in this damn area.

"What hurts the worst?" Morgan asked. He stopped what he was doing, and looked over next to the kid. Peter wasn't crying, but he was still trembling. "Your knees or the cut on your stomach? Or somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else," Peter said. The kid avoided eye contact, and kept busy with Reid's shoulder wound. He knew Peter wasn't going to talk about the rape with Morgan, and neither would Reid when the boy genius woke up.

"How old is your sister?" Morgan asked changing the subject. It was good to keep the kid talking, and Morgan was a little curious about who exactly Peter was.

"She's 10," Peter said.

"Big age difference," Morgan said. "You're 21 years old, right?"

Peter nodded and smiled a little. "I was a Florida vacation," Peter said. "Clara was planned, but it's cool. I love her. I don't think mom and dad are going to have any more kids, and so it's just going to be and Clara in the long run. Friends can come and go, but not your siblings. We won't ever be as close as like brothers or something who are closer in age, but I'll always be her big brother."

Morgan couldn't agree more. He would always be there for his sisters. He didn't have any brothers of his own, but Reid was closer to him than any real brother could have been.

"Am I going to see my sister again?" Peter asked. The kid finally made eye contact with Morgan. He looked scared.

"I'm going to get you home kid, don't worry." Morgan said. He was sure the team was getting closer to finding them. He listened to hear J.J.'s voice on the television, but it was on another commercial. Peter was nodding when he dropped the now bloody cloth.

"He's waking up," Peter said nervously. Reid's eyes cracked open, and his head fell over to the side. Morgan could hear Reid's breathing start to speed up as he remembered his situation, and Morgan started dragging himself back over to the couch. Peter put one of his hands on Reid's good shoulder, and Reid looked over at Peter's face.

"Where'd they go?" Reid asked looking over. He sat himself straighter against the couch, and looked towards the door. He was close to having a panic attack.

"They left," Morgan told him. "To have their lunch or something. I don't know when they are coming back."

Reid licked his lips, but he didn't relax back on the bottom of the couch. He turned over to face Peter. "I'm so sorry. I really thought that if he got me, they would leave you alone. I didn't think they would hurt you too. I'm so sorry Peter."

"It's okay," Peter said. "Are you okay?"

"Just breathe," Morgan reminded Reid. Morgan tossed Reid's boxers over to them. He was sure that Reid would be a lot calmer once he was covered up too. Peter caught them. "They are still damp, but I'm sure you want them on."

Reid looked grateful, and Peter carefully helped Reid get back into his boxers. Morgan was thankful that kid was with them. He never wanted Peter in that kind of situation, but Peter was helping them a lot more than Reid knew. Reid looked a lot more comfortable once he was covered again, and Peter didn't leave his side.

"What if they want to do it again?" Peter asked after a short moment of silence. Morgan had to restrain himself from punching the chair in front of him. He didn't want to scare the boys, but anyone who could hurt Peter and Reid like that needed to die. There wasn't any question about it. They needed to die, and Morgan wanted to be the one to do it. The world didn't need any more filth like that hanging around.

"They won't," Morgan said. He hoped the others believed his words because he certainly didn't. If the unsubs wanted to do it again, there was very little he could do to stop them. Reid's eyes told him though that Reid could see the truth behind his words. There was little in trying to hide anything from the boy genius. They knew each other too well.

"What's the plan when they come back?" Peter asked. Reid's black eye looked terrible, and Morgan couldn't stop looking at his bloody shoulder. Peter had done his best to stop the bleeding, but he needed stitches.

"Don't draw attention to yourselves," Morgan said. He knew that was easier said than done, especially when their captors had already shown special interest in Reid and Peter. "Peter, would you mind coming over here? Maybe you can get the window further open than I could or something."

Morgan wasn't even sure the boy was going to listen at first. It was clear that Peter didn't like the idea of leaving Reid, but he did as he was told. He walked over to the giant window, and was slipping his slender arms underneath the glass to lift it up more. Morgan was pretty sure the window wasn't going to budge any more, but he just wanted to see how Reid was. He crawled over to the younger man, and sat down next to him. Reid was still shivering, probably from the wet hair, but he wasn't trembling as bad as he was. Morgan wanted to give Reid the jeans he was wearing, but even if he could get the material over his broken leg, they wouldn't come anywhere close to fitting Reid.

"How are you feeling kid?" Morgan asked softly. Reid pulled his bony legs up to his chest, and Morgan tried not looking at the bloody shoulder. He was sure that it hurt like hell.

"I'm okay," Reid said quietly. Morgan knew this wasn't the truth. It couldn't be. Nobody could just be okay after going through what Peter and Reid did.

"Then look at me," Morgan told him. Reid had been looking everywhere but Morgan their entire conversation. Reid could lie all he wanted through his words, but he couldn't hide what he was feeling in his eyes. Reid turned to face him, and for a moment, Reid gave him the illusion that everything really was alright. He looked confident, but that confidence was lost when Morgan looked deeper into the kid's big eyes. His lips were curving down, and his eyes were filling with tears. Morgan wrapped his arms around Reid, and Reid rested his head on Morgan's shoulders. The boy genius was trembling all over.

"Ssshh," Morgan soothed. "I'm here."

"It really hurt," Reid whispered.

Morgan could have stayed there all night keeping Reid safe in his arms. He wouldn't let those psychopaths hurt him or Peter again, but Reid was the one who broke the hug. Reid wiped away a few tears by rubbing his cheeks with his good shoulder, and looked over where Peter was sitting by the window. Peter acted like he hadn't been watching them, but Morgan knew that Peter heard all of it.

"I'll be ready when they come back," Morgan said loudly. "They haven't done much to me yet so whatever they are planning next, it will be done to me." He wanted to try and relax the boys, but both of them still looked like nervous wrecks. Peter moved over to the bookcase, and started looking through some of the books.

"Only 9% of rape victims in the United States are male," Reid said more to himself than anyone else. Peter looked up from the book he was holding and Reid looked close to crying all over again.

Morgan didn't know how to respond to that. Only Reid would know an exact statistic like that, but even the statistics were probably wrong. Males were less likely to come forward with stories of rape because they are ashamed something like that could happen to them. It could happen to anyone regardless of age or gender.

"Her whole name was Tatiana Garland," Peter suddenly said. "She wrote her name on the inside cover of most of these books, and I think this is a picture of her." He put the book down back on the shelf, but kept a photograph in his hands. He walked over to them, and handed the picture to Morgan as he sat down next to them. Just like Reid, Peter was still trembling.

Morgan only saw the dead woman on the floor for a few minutes, but the photo in his hands did resemble her. She was tall with a thin stature and a pretty smile. She was standing next to a couple that was probably her parents and another girl about her age. It was a family photo.

"This was probably a family cabin," Reid said. "She looks to be in her early 20s, and even if she was rich, this cabin is too big for just one person."

"Maybe she was coming out her to meet her boyfriend," Morgan pondered. Valentine's Day was coming up, and a lot of college kids dreamed of having some romantic weekend tucked away in some cabin with their significant other.

"Either way, she wasn't planning on being alone," Reid said. "It's not going to be long before the person she was going to meet shows up here."

Morgan agreed, but that didn't necessarily mean their rescue. If it was Tatiana's boyfriend that was coming, their captors could easily take him down without much planning. If her parents and sister showed up though, they would have more of a chance.

"You don't think they already killed her boyfriend?" Peter asked. He looked worried to even be asking the question.

Morgan put a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder, but the kid recoiled at his touch. Morgan had to keep reminding himself that he was dealing with rape victims. The last thing they needed was somebody else touching them.

"I think if they killed her boyfriend or her parents, they would be gloating about it," Morgan told him. "They are very proud of their crimes."

Peter nodded and looked down. "We can't sit around here waiting though," Morgan continued. "What if her parents got held up doing something else or what if her boyfriend wasn't supposed to come for another week?" If those guys were planning on killing them before morning, they didn't have much time to sit around and hope for rescue.

"I don't think any one of us could get away even if they held the front door open," Reid said. "You can't walk, and I would get lost in about a minute. We wouldn't be able to last long out there without jackets and shoes though."

"There's probably a phone somewhere," Peter said. "This is a house, and even though Tatiana had a cell phone, there had to be a land line. Right?"

Morgan didn't know. It seemed like landlines were becoming rarer and rarer, but that did seem like their best option.

"How could we look for it?" Reid said. Morgan hated seeing the kid like this with his hands behind his back huddled in front of the couch. He was scared, and for once, Morgan was scared too. He hardly ever found himself in situations like this, and if those guys came back with guns, what could Morgan possibly do to protect Reid and Peter?

"Maybe one of them will forget to lock the door," Peter suggested.

As if on cue, their conversation was interrupted with the sound of the door unlocking. Peter and Reid both seemed to push themselves even further against the couch, and Morgan scooted in front of them. He really hoped this time around the abuse would be focused on him. He didn't know how much more the others could take.

"Hope you guys are hungry," Anthony said as he came into the room toast in his hands. Michael diligently locked the door behind him. He was holding what looked like a cup of water.

Anthony circled around the couch, and sat on the floor right in front of them. "Morgan Freeman, please sit next to the others. It will be hard to feed them or give them a drink with you blocking them. I don't think that's too much to ask."

"I'm not hungry," Peter said quietly.

"No one asked you," Anthony said sharply. "I'm not against tying you back up again so please do what I ask and line up."

They weren't holding any weapons, unless one of them had a gun or knife in their pockets, but their focus seemed on the meal. Morgan didn't see any harm in sitting next to the others. He scooted back next to Reid keeping the boy genius in the middle. If something was poisoned, it would be Morgan who had it first. He didn't think any of it would be dangerous to each though. That seemed against their style, but was almost impossible to predict what these two were going to do next and Morgan didn't like that.

* * *

Hotch hated not being in control. He hated not knowing where Morgan and Reid were, and he hated not knowing what exactly was happening to them. The victims that Garcia was able to find earlier did sound like something their unsubs could do, but only one body was ever found and that woman died a horrific death. Hotch couldn't even imagine something like that happening to Morgan or Reid. The girl that came forward at the dance studio did help a lot. They now had the photograph from the security camera, and they had an artist working on the unsubs' pictures to show the reporters. J.J. and Prentiss chose to stay at the studio in case any other witnesses were willing to talk to them, and J.J. was talking to the reporters almost every hour. This was an active case, and every minute gone by was a minute lost. J.J. had both of Boyle's parents talk to the reporters about what a great kid their only son was, and Nelson's mother stood close to J.J. The nurse's mother could barely get two words in about her daughter. Hotch couldn't blame her. It was heart wrenching for anyone to lose a child, and this woman was being asked to talk to the media about her. Boyle's father was more on the quiet side, but the boy's mother talked willingly with anyone who asked her a question. Hotch guessed it was only a matter of time before Boyle's little sister would try begging with the unsubs to return her brother.

The unsubs were both young. It was harder to see the one in the passenger seat, but the guy driving was under 30 years old. Hotch knew that it didn't mean much, but he was really praying that the pleading mothers would have some kind of effect on them. Hotch could barely watch the mothers without wanting to just give the poor women their children back. Hotch couldn't even promise them that they would see their kids again, but he was doing the best he could.

They were still at the station. Rossi was pacing near one of the telephones, and Garcia was sitting in another room with the artist. Hotch was staring at the maps hoping that one of the locations they selected would scream out at him. Morgan and Reid were waiting for their rescue. Morgan was probably doing his best to keep the boy genius from harm, but they've already been missing for what seemed like half of the night. They needed to come home.

"We can't sit around waiting for a phone call," Rossi said. Hotch agreed. The unsubs weren't going to call them demanding ransom for the release of the hostages. He wasn't even sure if they were watching the news or not. It was all just a guessing game since they didn't have a background of the unsubs or their previous victims.

"And we can't drive around knocking on doors asking people if they've seen the unsubs," Hotch said firmly.

"No, but we do have an idea of where they might be," Rossi argued. He stood up and went over to the map on the wall. "We don't have time to keep waiting. The guys who took Morgan and Reid abducted them fast. They drove up, grabbed them, and drove away so I think it's reasonable to think that whatever they plan to do with Morgan and Reid and the others will be done fast. I know that we can't get in a car ourselves and drive around, but we could send a SWAT team or something to these areas to look around. If the unsubs are young and foolish, just the idea of seeing a bunch of police officers might scare them away."

"Or make them kill the victims faster," Hotch said. He didn't even mean to say that out loud. Rossi didn't say anything for a moment. They could both hear Garcia saying something to the sketch artist, and the television was still loud in the next room with what sounded like Boyle's mother just begging the unsubs to let her son go.

"And waiting around here to see if another witness comes forward or that the unsubs will give us a friendly phone call isn't going to help Morgan and Reid either," Rossi said gently. "If we just sit here and wait, the unsubs will kill every single person they abducted. It's not even a question of if those two men will kill or not. We know they will kill the poor people they kidnapped, and I'm guessing it will be done by morning."

Hotch looked at the red circles on their map and sat down. He felt a headache coming on. He couldn't help but blame himself for what happened to Reid and Morgan. He knew there was absolutely nothing he could have done to prevent Reid from going to that bookstore, but he could have gone with Reid instead of Morgan. Maybe he could have made the unsubs stop before it went any further, but blaming himself wasn't going bring them home.

"Okay," Hotch finally said. Hotch stood back up and went over to the map. "Okay. There's two upper class neighborhoods, the trailer park, and the state park. From what we could see, it looked like both unsubs were nicely dressed so it didn't look like they would be heading out to spend a night in the state park. Let's get some teams over to look around in the bigger neighborhoods. They would be able to blend in there."

Rossi patted Hotch on the shoulder and went out to tell the sheriff. He stared at the phone with hatred in his heart for the people that would just kidnap innocent people like Morgan and Reid with plans of killing them. He pulled out his cell phone, but the screen was still black. No one tried calling him and he didn't miss any messages. Garcia ran in just as he was leaving the conference room holding up the drawings the artist finished. It looked like the artist drew the picture of the unsub driving perfectly. Eva had a good memory for sure. The drawing matched their blurry photograph, and Hotch got a better look at the fellow in the passenger seat with the oily hair and black eyes. Hotch didn't like his eyes.

* * *

Anthony and Michael finished their late dinners with time to spare. Michael was never the biggest conversationalist, but Anthony didn't mind. He enjoyed watching the crying mothers on the small television in the kitchen. He saw an older woman that he guessed was the mother of the dead and rotting nurse, and he saw a family that belonged to Peter. He didn't see any family members for the Morgan dude though. He assumed it was because that guy was with the FBI and the family had to remain private for their own protection, but what about the other guy? His family wasn't there begging for his safe return, and the media never even mentioned him even though he went missing at the same time as Morgan. Anthony didn't like secrets, especially when he was left out on them. There was something more going on with Tom Carey and Morgan, and Anthony was going to find out what it was. He didn't care if they were lovers or just best friends, but he would care if Carey was a cop. Or an agent.

He finished eating his sandwich, and piled up the 3 extra pieces of toast they made. He covered the almost burned slices with plenty of butter, and Michael already had the cup of water in his hands. After their captives ate their lunch, he was going to find out exactly who Mr. Carey was. If Anthony was a betting man, which he wasn't, but if he was he would guess Carey's real name was Reed. That's what it sounded like when the agent screamed. Anthony led the way back into the den room like he usually did, and was pleased to find the boys already lined up nicely against the couch. The bulky agent was blocking the other two a little bit, but Anthony could see all three of them. Michael locked the door behind him, and they took their places in front of the guys.

Anthony was disappointed Carey and Peter both had their boxers back on. Peter's boxers looked torn near the edges, but both of their boxers were still wet. They still left very little to the imagination which made Anthony wonder why they bothered to put the underwear back on. Michael and himself already saw and touched everything. What more was there to hide? Carey had his knees up to the chest, and Peter was leaning more on his hip like he was still trying to keep himself covered.

"Looks like we're doing good boys," Anthony said smiling. "Hope you guys are hungry. "Morgan Freeman, please sit next to the others. It will be hard to feed them or give them a drink with you blocking them. I don't think that's too much to ask."

"And I brought water," Michael said.

"And he brought water," Anthony repeated.

"How do we know it isn't poisoned?" Morgan asked them.

Anthony lifted up a piece of toast for all of them to see, and ripped off a tiny piece of it. He stuck it in his mouth and chewed it loudly. When he swallowed it, he looked at Michael who obediently took a sip of the water. He opened his mouth when he was done to show he wasn't hiding the water somewhere in his mouth. The agent didn't look happy, but he backed up against the others. He sat next to Carey, and the two of them shared a glance. Anthony didn't like it. There was definitely something those guys were hiding from him.

"Okay, Michael will give you guys the water. I got the food. So I guess since Michael is closest to Peter, lucky Petey gets the first drink. And since my good pal Morgan Freeman is closest to me, he gets to try out my wonderful toast." Michael sat down cross legged across from Peter, and reached the cup of water towards him. Peter didn't take it. He kept glancing at Tom Carey. His lips were dried and cracked. Why didn't he just take the drink?

"I'm not hungry," Peter said quietly.

"I won't force any of you to eat of course," Anthony said still smiling. "But if you refuse to eat, Petey or Carey will die. Won't tell you which one. It will be a surprise for me too, but don't think for a second that I wouldn't do it. We could play the numbers game again. Have them pick out a number and winner gets a bullet in their brain. Doesn't bother me one bit, but I will not have any of you go around wasting food in this house."

Morgan didn't even try to argue. He took the piece of toast that was offered to him, and stuffed the entire slice in his mouth. Anthony didn't say a word. It wasn't poisoned. He didn't think Tatiana had any poisons lying around and he wasn't a cook. Besides, when he killed these idiots, he wanted to be in control. He didn't need some poison to do the job for him. Peter stole another glance at Carey, but he eventually took the water from Michael. Anthony could only imagine how thirsty these poor guys were.

It only took a second for the warm salty water to be in Peter's mouth before the young man spit it all out. Anthony respected that Peter leaned away from Michael when he spit, and Michael just started laughing. Carey leaned closer to Peter as if to shield him from Michael, but they weren't doing anything. Michael was just laughing, and Anthony was making sure that the federal agent swallowed his toast.

"What's wrong?" Carey asked him, his big eyes wide with fear.

"What did you give him?" the agent shouted. "Peter, are you okay?"

Peter nodded weakly. "It was salt water. Warm salt water."

Anthony paused for a second to let them understand what was really happening. "You are trying to make us thirstier," Morgan Freeman finally said.

"It's still just water," Anthony said. He tried to keep a cheery tone to his voice. There wasn't any need to scare the fellows any more than they already were. "And you still will drink your share unless you guys are up for another numbers game."

Peter and Carey looked devastated. Carey's lips were already cracked open and bleeding, and Peter kept his mouth open like he was hoping the cold air would take the salt off his tongue. Anthony didn't watch Michael add the salt to the water, but he didn't complain when he saw the empty salt container in the trash. He probably used the whole thing.

"Am I going to have to pick a new number?" Anthony asked. Peter didn't look back at Carey or Morgan to find out what he needed to do. He took the cup back from Michael, and drank his part as fast as he could. Anthony respected that. Peter handed the cup back to Michael, and immediately leaned over and started coughing. Anthony didn't mind if the kid puked as long as the salt was in his already dehydrated system. Anthony scooted in front of Carey, and handed out a piece of toast. Carey stared at the toast in front of him, but didn't lean forward to take a bite. He couldn't take it like Morgan Freeman with his hands bound behind his back.

"I don't know if I can eat this," Carey complained. "My mouth is so dry."

"No problem," Michael said. "Just give me a second to think of a number."

Carey glared at him, opened his mouth, and took a bite of the toast. Carey's lips cracked in another spot on his lips, and Anthony couldn't have timed it better than when the cracked lip started bleeding on the toast. Carey didn't seem to notice as he forced the toast down his throat without much chewing involved, but just like Peter, his body couldn't handle it. He didn't even last 30 seconds before going into a coughing fit. Morgan patted him on the back, and Peter tried talking to him to calm him down, but it didn't work. Tom Carey threw up the toast right in front of Morgan. The agent didn't seem to mind. He barely noticed as he continued to pat his good buddy on the back. Anthony noticed though, and was pissed that someone could just puke up perfectly good food. He slapped Carey across the cheek after he settled from the coughing fit, but he didn't say anything.

He switched positons with Michael, and held out the last piece of toast for Peter. "Was Petey here just as tight as Tom Carey was?" he asked Michael.

"Probably tighter," Michael said laughing. "Come on. Drink up Mr. Carey. We have a long night ahead of us."

Anthony loved Carey's big eyes. They could never hide what that guy was feeling. He opened his mouth slightly, and Michael started pouring the salt water in. He managed to keep the water down, but he did start gagging as soon as Michael took the cup away. Peter took the toast slice, but unlike the others, he took very small bites at a time. It was probably his own little tactic to keep the food down, but Anthony was never known for his patience. Michael was already giving the last of the water to Morgan, and Anthony was still playing around with the blondie idiot.

"You'll eat faster or I might take Michael up on his little statement of you being tighter than Carey over there," Anthony said. He winked at Peter, and just like that, Peter started stuffing the food down his mouth. Anthony counted to 60 in his head to make sure that Peter wouldn't puke before he stood back up. When he felt confident, he stood up and took the empty cup that Michael was holding. That's when Peter started coughing, and just like Carey, he leaned over and puked up most of the toast. Anthony waited until he was done coughing his heart out, and then he threw the empty glass against the bookcase. It broke into several large pieces, and Carey scooted further back against the couch.

"I'm not cleaning that crap up," Anthony said firmly pointing at the two puke piles. Peter and Carey looked extremely pale. Anthony was totally right though. It was one of them that was going to die first this night. He was looking forward to finding out which one. Michael giggled.

"Anyway, I discovered a little problem that we should probably deal with now instead of later," Anthony said firmly. "I don't like being lied to. The sooner we deal with this, the easier it will be on all of us." Anthony pulled the gun out of his back pocket, and smiled when he saw all 3 hostages scoot back even further. Michael giggled again.

"None of us are lying to you man," the agent told him. He shifted himself so he was a little bit in front of the others. Anthony appreciated his bravery.

"Then which one of the two behind you are Reed?" Anthony asked. Michael stepped beside him, and put his hands behind his back. Michael wasn't carrying a gun, but he was never far from one of his favorite knives.

Morgan kept his mouth shut. Anthony knew which one Reed was. Michael knew which one Reed was. It was just up to the captives to tell the truth, but Anthony wasn't about to get lied to again. "So which one of you is Reed?"

Morgan moved fast. Using his arms, he pulled himself in front of Peter and Carey. It wouldn't do much good. If Anthony wanted to kill one of them, an FBI agent with a broken leg wasn't going to stop him. "I know. I know. It's human nature to lie. All of us lie every once in a while. Isn't that right Michael?"

Michael nodded. "It's just a tiny bit different when you choose to lie to people holding a gun in your face. So which one of you is Reed? We don't have all night."

Peter looked like he was about 12 years old and caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was looking at the other guys, but he didn't offer a word. The agent held his head down as he remembered calling out the other guy's name.

"My name is Reid," the skinny guy in the middle almost whispered.

"Last name or nickname?" Anthony asked. He didn't expect them to lie to anymore.

Reid glanced at the agent next to him, but the other man had nothing to say. "Last name. My name is Spencer Reid."

"And you both work in the same department of the FBI?" Anthony asked. Anthony truly had no idea if Reid and Morgan were just friends, but he felt like he was on a roll.

"Yes," Reid said quietly. Anthony could feel Michael staring at him, but all of this was coming as a surprise to him as well. That's why the media made no mention of this guy.

"So Morgan is your last name?" Anthony asked the darker agent. "Don't bother lying. Your wallet fell out of your pants while you were in the car. I'm not putting up with any more lies."

"Name is Derek Morgan," Morgan answered. "I was the one who told Reid to lie about his name. It wasn't his fault."

"And is your real name really Peter Boyle, or are you lying too?" Anthony asked the skinny kid.

"I'm not lying," Peter said quickly. "I think I left my license in the car or something, but I'm not lying about my name."

Anthony licked the outside of his lips. He never could have dreamed of abducting not one but two FBI agents. The odds are randomly abducting an agent had to be high. "So is that your little sister on the TV?" Anthony asked without turning around.

Peter looked up at the television. His mouth dropped open when he saw the little girl on the screen still wearing her pink leotard and tights. Even the agents looked shaken when they saw the cute child in pigtails speaking to the cameras. Her hair was a light shade of brown, but they had similar facial features. Her eyes looked red from crying, but she was speaking to the reporters all on her own. Anthony wondered whose idea that was.

"Please, let my brother come home," the child said with a confident voice. 'He's a really good big brother and he helps me with my homework almost every night. I really miss him, and I don't think I'll have good dreams until Peter is back so please let him go. Dad said you wouldn't even have to take him to the police. Just drop him off somewhere else. Peter is super smart so he could find his way home." The little girl turned around to make sure her parents were still there. She sniffled and looked back at the camera. "Please don't hurt him. Please don't hurt my big brother."

"What's her name?" Michael asked as a reporter took the spot where the child was standing.

Peter wouldn't even look at them. His wet bangs fell around his eyebrows, but they weren't dripping anymore. Anthony was still happy that both Peter and Reid were shivering. He liked the idea of turning the AC on, and he was thinking about turning it down even further. He loved seeing the guys trembling in their boxers. He wasn't planning on killing them that way, but it was so amusing to watch. He wished he had a camera.

"Clara," Peter said. His voice was cracking, and he looked even worse than he did during the rape. Anthony didn't have a sister. Neither did Michael so neither one of them knew exactly what this kid was going through, but it was interesting to watch.

"Please guys, just let him go," Morgan begged. "He's just a kid. You have two federal agents. You don't need some kid too."

"Won't need any of you by morning," Anthony said. "You wanna know?"

"Tell them why," Michael said. Michael had pulled the knife out from its hiding spot, and Agent Morgan was the first to spot the weapon. He tried scooting in front of his two buddies again.

"Cause all of you will be dead by morning," Anthony said. He ran his tongue over his lips and stepped closer to them. "Don't have any use for corpses. I mean, I read that some killers are totally into that kind of stuff. Wasn't Jeffrey Dahmer? He was into all kinds of weird crap, but ya. Dead bodies don't do anything for me. So after the three of you, I'm either sticking you in the backyard or just burning this house down. Your families can bury whatever is left of you after the fire is put out."

"It takes longer than you think for a human body to burn," Reid said.

Anthony glared at the skinny agent on the floor. "Okay, on your feet liar."

Reid obviously didn't mean to draw attention to himself, and the second Anthony called him out, it looked like he was trying to blend back into the couch.

"On your feet or I shoot Peter and send one of his ears to his precious little sister," Anthony said more firmly. They only had a few hours until sunrise, and they had a lot to get done.

"It was my fault, I told him to lie. Don' do anything to him," Morgan pleaded with him. Anthony was done talking though. He aimed his gun at Peter's forehead, and that finally got Reid on his feet. His bony legs were wobbly, and could barely support his own weight. He probably wouldn't be able to stand more than a few minutes.

"Okay, now step away from that grossness you and blondie made on the floor," Anthony told them agent. This was trickier. Reid couldn't rely on his hands for balance, and he was only one wrong move away from falling face first on the floor. Peter helped him though. Peter held out his arms, and Reid used them to balance himself as he stepped over his mess.

Reid licked his cracked lips, probably from nerves, and looked Anthony right in the eye. He was bracing himself to be shot. Anthony could see that much, but when Anthony took another step towards him, Reid held his ground.

Anthony laughed, and felt Michael step beside him. "You think I'm gonna shoot you. Don't you? I'm telling you. I hate liars. I despise liars, and I think anyone who could lie about their name isn't much better than the dirt outside, but I hate people who create liars even more." He gave them a second to absorb what he was saying before he aimed the gun at Morgan and fired.

 _sorry for the cliffhanger but it had to happen lol. my shows have been doing that to me lately so i figured its only fair. ill try to update it next time faster, but this story will be shorter than most of my others seeing as it only takes place over the course of a night. plz review though and lemme know how your liking it so far! reviews make me super happy and encourage me to review faster lol. till next time! xoxoxo_


	8. Chapter 8

_chapter 8 sure came up fast haha. already had the idea from my lovely muse floating around in my head so just had to write it down super fast so i wouldnt forget it. my mom always said i had terrible hand writing growing up. that was probably just because i would get an idea and if i didnt write it down fast, it was gone forever. it wasnt because i was meant to be a doctor haha. warnings: language, disturbing images and themes, ect. pretty much what happens in most of my stories so enjoy_

Prentiss was worried. She kept checking her phone every minute for updates, but there wasn't any news coming in. No other witnesses came forward, and even though J.J. was working her best with the reporters out there, they hadn't heard one peep from the unsubs. Prentiss was almost hoping that they could find a body just so they could have something to work with. At the moment, it seemed like Morgan and Reid just disappeared from the planet.

"No calls yet?" Mr. Boyle asked coming up to where she was sitting. He was a quiet man, and from what Prentiss gathered, he was working as a sub for high school teachers. He loved his job, but the work was never consistent. His wife was working at a grocery store to help make ends meet and to give their little girl the dance lessons. He had dark hair and gray eyes, and was still wearing the suit he went into work in.

"Not yet," Prentiss said softly. She felt like throwing her phone across the room just to get some of the rage out, but that wouldn't do anything other than break her phone and probably scare Boyle half to death.

"Do you think if we offered some ransom money that would get these kidnappers to call you up? I was talking to Ms. Nelson, and she said that she had some money in her savings account and I'll get whatever money I need to if that means bringing Peter home." He sat down next to Prentiss and looked her right in the eye. "Please, tell me what I need to be doing to help."

Mrs. Boyle was sitting on the floor in the dancing room near the mirror. Clara was resting her head in her mother's lap, but neither one of them was sleeping. The last time Prentiss saw Ms. Nelson, she was sobbing in a corner. Prentiss honestly didn't know if offering ransom money was a good idea or not. They tried reaching out to the unsubs all night with reports on both television and the radio, but the unsubs stayed quiet.

"I don't know. I can bring up the ransom idea with the rest of my team," Prentiss said. "SWAT teams are being sent out to some of the locations right now so maybe we'll be hearing some news when they get there." Prentiss didn't even know if that was a good idea. These unsubs were obviously not looking for fame or glory or they'd be taunting the police with daring letters or heart breaking photographers. She didn't know what the unsubs wanted, but she was so afraid that if they saw the police closing in on them, they would just kill the victims and move on. She was having a hard time believing all 4 of them were even still alive.

Mr. Boyle nodded. "Do you think my son has already been hurt? I know he got beat up when they first took him, but do you think they are still hurting him? Or is he locked in a basement somewhere with the others?"

"I can't tell you," Prentiss said honestly. "We don't know who these men are or what they are capable of." She was almost positive though that they were being hurt. If the victims were just tied up in a basement, they'd be calling to get the ransom money. If they weren't calling, the unsubs were busy doing God knows what to the people they stole. Prentiss didn't even like thinking about it.

"I hope Peter knows that we are looking for him," Mr. Boyle said with a sniffle. "I mean, when I left for work this morning, I don't even remember saying a word to Peter. He was eating his breakfast and I think he was watching the news so I didn't want to disturb him. And then when I got home from work, he was at school. And then when I was brushing my teeth, Melissa was worried that Peter wasn't home with Clara yet and now I'm here, wondering if I'm ever going to see my son again."

"We're trying our best to get him back," Prentiss said.

"I kinda feel like I should be out there looking too," Mr. Boyle said with a nervous laugh. "My son needs me and I'm just sitting here drinking coffee. Like, maybe I can follow behind the SWAT team or something. I wouldn't get in the way or anything. I just want to be there when they find Peter."

"You are already doing what you should be," Prentiss said. "Following the SWAT team out there would be a terrible idea. You'll be the very first to one to know when we find your son. For now, just stay here." As if on cue, Prentiss' phone started vibrating. Mr. Boyle scooted his chair back to he wouldn't seem nosy to her text, but she could tell he was hoping she would tell him some good news.

The text message was from Rossi. It couldn't be urgent since it was just a text over a phone call, but she opened it up quickly.

 _Another reported abduction. Jenny Parker. 29 years old. Never returned from night run. Attaching photo_

Prentiss opened up a photo of a young woman with dark blonde hair and green eyes. She didn't look like Reid, Morgan, Nelson, or even Boyle. Prentiss was speechless.

 _She went jogging about an hour before Boyle abduction. Her cell phone found on neighborhood sidewalk about 5 miles from dance studio. No struggle at scene_

Prentiss wanted to argue. She wanted to say that there was no way in hell that two unsubs were capable of kidnapping 5 innocent people in the span of just a few hours, but she couldn't. Everything fit the profile they were building. Prentiss opened the photo of the map that Hotch sent her earlier. She was even more positive than she was before that they weren't at the trailer park. She had been to that area several times. It was tight knit community. There would be no way two guys could be driving back and forth without people asking questions.

"Was it anything good?" Mr. Boyle asked. She could see the hope in his eyes, but she just shook her head. Mr. Boyle looked down. Prentiss swore he was about to start crying. "You will tell me if it's bad news though regarding my son. Right?"

Prentiss nodded. "It won't come to that sir," Prentiss said. She could hear uncertainty in her voice and she hated that.

"Thank you," Mr. Boyle said. He looked up at her, and there were tears in his eyes. "I'm going to go sit with my wife and Clara. Its way past her bedtime, but I don't think any of us will do much sleeping tonight. Please let me know about the ransom idea though. I'm more than willing to go get some money out of my account."

"I'm sure the manager of this place can find a warm blanket for Clara," Prentiss said. "I'll go find her one. It's a cold night, and the police keep leaving all the doors open."

Prentiss got out of her chair before Mr. Boyle could object. She didn't need to find one of the dance instructors or managers working there. One of the officers brought warm blankets with him in case they did find the kidnapped people nearby. Prentiss took one of them off the desk, and took one with her back to where the Boyles were sitting. Mr. Boyle had already joined his family, and Prentiss could see his wife wiping tears off her face as Prentiss handed her the blanket. She smiled graciously, and wrapped her daughter in the blanket.

"Try to rest," Prentiss told them. "I'll let you know when we hear something."

Mrs. Boyle smiled at her, and Prentiss left the family to themselves. She sat back down her chair to think. She had to put herself in the unsubs' shoes. She wanted to play with her victims before she ultimately killed them. She wanted her victims to believe that they actually had a chance to escape. Prentiss closed her eyes. There more victims that there were unsubs so they would have to keep the victims subdued. Ropes or handcuffs would keep their arms out of the way, and she would want them all in the same room to keep a better eye on them.

Just keeping them locked in one room with handcuffs wouldn't stop them from trying to fight back, and with their numbers, they could easily take down one of the unsubs. The unsubs wouldn't have much of a choice other than killing off the victims. The deaths would have to be spaced out though to let the reality of what was happening to the others really sink in before their time came. They would get weaker from beatings, and their spirits would break after seeing their friends get murdered in front of them. Kill one every one or two hours, and the entire group would be dead come sun up. Prentiss opened her eyes.

* * *

Reid closed his eyes waiting for the gun to off. He wasn't expecting them to kill him, but he was sure whatever spot they were aiming for on his body was going to cause immense pain. He flinched when he heard the gun, but nothing happened to him. He didn't fall over from the force of the bullet, and he was sure that the gun missed him. He was going to keep his eyes shut a moment longer, but then he heard Morgan scream. Reid opened his eyes, and turned around as fast as he could. Morgan's right arm was crossed over his chest to his left shoulder where blood was falling between his fingers.

"We'll give you a few minutes to clean up the puke," Anthony said. "It's disgusting, and I don't like looking at it. It better be gone by the time we get back."

Michael kicked Reid in the knee, and he fell on the floor next to Morgan. He was almost too afraid to move until he heard Michael lock the door behind them as they left. Morgan was breathing heavy, but he wasn't crying. Reid ignored the pain in his knees and scooted towards him. Peter acted fast tearing another piece of cloth from his boxer shorts, and crawling next to Reid and Morgan. Morgan didn't want to take his hand off the wound.

"Damn him!" Morgan said through his teeth. "Damn him to hell!"

"Morgan, move your arm," Reid said licking his cracked lips. "We need to see it."

Morgan reluctantly put his arm down. His right hand was covered with blood from the shot. It looked like the bullet went in right underneath his shoulder. Dark blood ran down his arm, and Morgan winced in pain. "I don't think it hit an artery," Morgan said.

"Okay, Peter," Reid said backing up to give the kid room. "Push down on his arm as hard as you can with the cloth. Okay? We need to stop the bleeding."

Peter did as he was told. He got on his knees, and pushed down on the wound. "I won't be able to get the bullet out," Peter said, his voice cracking with every word. "I don't know how. I could try, but I don't want to hurt him even more."

Reid wasn't even thinking about asking the kid to get the bullet out. Reid couldn't even get the bullet out. Morgan would have to wait until they got to a hospital, but they could stop the bleeding. "No, just try to keep pressure on his arm. When the bleeding stops, you can wrap the cloth around the wound to keep bacteria out of it."

"I can do that," Peter said. Morgan was still breathing heavy, but he still had his eyes open and he didn't look like he was about to lose consciousness. They were lucky the bullet didn't hit an artery or Morgan could be dead.

"Why did you lie?" Reid asked when it looked like the bleeding was finally getting under control. "You didn't tell me to give him a fake name."

"I wasn't going to let you get shot pretty boy," Morgan said forcing a smile. "Doesn't even hurt that bad."

"Looks like it hurts," Peter said quietly. The little cloth Peter was using was soaked all the way through. He let it fall to the ground, and ripped off another piece of his boxers. If he needed anymore, Reid was going to offer the kid some cloth off his. Peter didn't have that much more to spare before the whole thing fell apart.

"Here, I can hold it," Morgan told Peter. He took the fresh piece of clothing from Peter, and held it against the bullet wound himself. Peter let himself fall on his rear end against the couch. He was still trembling, but so was Reid. Reid was positive they turned the air conditioner down even further. He moved himself closer to Morgan to look at the wound. He was still bleeding.

"How are we going to clean up the mess?" Reid asked. At this point, he didn't care if they came back and saw the puke still on the floor. No matter what they did to clean up, it wasn't going to stop those guys from hurting them again.

"We can push the couch over it," Peter said. Reid looked at the couch. It couldn't be that heavy, but it was their only option unless they wanted to strip to clean it up and Reid wasn't about to take off his boxers again. Peter was already trying to stand up on his wobbly legs. The burns on his legs matched what happened to Reid, but one of Peter's knees was swelling. The boy leaned on his better leg, and slowly walked behind the couch.

"Could you help Morgan move over?" Reid asked. Reid couldn't help him get up with the silly handcuffs still on, but he didn't use his arms to push the couch a little. Reid got on his knees, and tried pushing himself up, but he fell. Peter hurried back around, and reached down to help Reid. He put his arms underneath Reid's arms, and pulled him up. Reid didn't feel steady on his feet, but he didn't know how much longer until the unsubs came back.

Reid moved around the couch while Peter stayed behind with Morgan. Peter wrapped the make shift bandage tight around Morgan's arm, and he bent over so Morgan could use Peter's weight as a balance. They could only make it a few steps. Morgan was much heavier than the college kid, and Morgan was trying as hard as he could to avoid using his broken leg. Peter got Morgan over to the bookcase, and Morgan let himself fall on the floor. Morgan hissed when he landed on his bad leg. Reid leaned against the couch, and pushed it forward a few inches.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked Morgan. Reid stayed by the couch to catch his breath, and Peter was trying to sit down next to Morgan without hurting himself.

"Fine," Morgan said. He brought his hurt leg up to his chest, and rubbed his hand over his knee. He wasn't fine. None of them were.

What were they going to do? Reid couldn't tell if the team wasn't getting closer to finding them or not, but there was no way any of them could survive if help didn't get there soon. Reid was even too afraid step away from the couch. He didn't want to fall down and cause another scene when their focus needed to be on Morgan. Reid's breath caught in his throat when he heard the door being unlocked. Anthony and Michael couldn't have been gone for more than 5 minutes. Reid didn't expect them back so soon, and he was the one closest to the door.

Morgan sat up straight as he could against the bookshelf and Peter took a step closer to the wounded agent. Reid couldn't do anything except turn around and face whoever was coming through that door. Reid felt himself licking his lips again as Michael slowly opened the door, and locked it again as soon as he was through. Anthony wasn't with him.

"We weren't ready for you guys yet," Morgan called out. Reid took a step back as Michael came right up to him. His heart was pounding in his chest.

"I'm sorry," Michael said in his usually pleasant voice. "I didn't mean to scare you." Michael took a few more steps towards Reid.

"Then what do you want?" Reid asked. He didn't like how Michael was keeping his hands behind his back.

"Anthony is busy changing shirts," Michael said smiling. "He doesn't like it when his clothing gets dirty. Neither do I, but I already changed shirts. I brought another one with me from home so I wouldn't have to wear dirty clothes."

"What do you want?" Morgan asked loudly. Michael looked over at Peter and Morgan, and took his hands from behind his back. He wasn't holding a gun or a knife. He was holding a key.

"Anthony said he has one more fun idea planned for us, but after that, I get to pick what we do," Michael said. "My idea is another game, but this one is even more fun. Hide and seek! Everyone knows that game. I used to play it all the time when I was younger. It wouldn't be very fair for you to play that game with your hands behind your back. Would it?"

Reid looked over at Morgan. It could be a trick, but Michael didn't seem like much of a trickster out of the two. Morgan shrugged, and Reid turned around and held out his arms. Michael did exactly what he said he would. He unlocked the cuffs, and for the first time since Reid got there, his hands were free. Michael caught the cuffs before they fell on the floor, but Reid didn't care. He felt free. He brought his hands in front of him, but he felt sick again when he saw what was done to his right hand. All of the nails were missing.

"Do you feel better?" Michael asked. Reid turned back around to face him. Michael put the handcuffs in his back pocket, but he didn't take out some kind of weapon. He clasped his still gloved hands together and smiled.

"Thank you," Reid finally said. He didn't think Michael meant this as a kind gesture though.

"Can you please help us?" Peter asked. "You wouldn't even need to tell Anthony. Just leave the door unlocked or something. Please." Peter's voice was still cracking. Reid couldn't believe that anybody could listen to his pleas and just ignore him.

"You know I can't do that," Michael said. He didn't sound annoyed by Peter at all. If anything, he sounded a little bored.

"Who are you?" Reid suddenly asked. "My name is Spencer Reid. I don't have any brothers or sisters, but being an only child is alright. I love reading and magic tricks. What about you? Is your real name Michael? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I'm just Michael," the unsub said smiling. "Just Michael." Michael turned back around and went up the three steps leading out of their prison. He opened the door to leave. The hallway behind the door looked dark. Reid couldn't make out anything.

"Michael," Reid said taking a step forward. "Can I please ask you something?"

"Whatever you like," Michael said. "Doesn't mean I will answer, but you can try. Hurry up though. Anthony is waiting for me."

"Is there another phone in the house?" Reid asked.

Michael kept his hand on the door, but he turned partway around to look Reid in the eye. His oily hair still hung around his face. He didn't have the best skin, and his dark hair gave Reid chills down his spine. Reid couldn't explain why, but he didn't like it. "Yes," Michael said simply.

He didn't wait around for another question. Michael opened the door a little wider, and left Reid standing by the couch. The door locked behind him, as it always did, and Reid turned to see his friends. Peter was still standing in front of the bookcase with Morgan sitting right next to him.

"That was weird," Morgan said. He put his hand back over his bandage and winced.

"Why were you asking him about a phone?" Peter asked. Reid couldn't stop rubbing his wrists. It felt so good to finally be free in a sense. His wrists were red and sore, but he didn't mind.

"He said that he wants to play hide and seek with us," Reid said. "We can't play in this room. It's not big enough. They're going to have to let us out of this room, and while we are hiding, one of us can look for the phone."

"You guys would have to look for it," Morgan said. "I can't walk. Maybe I can cause some kind of distraction or something though to keep them in this room so you guy can look." Reid took his hands off the couch, and started taking the few agonizing steps towards the bookcase. He didn't know if any of his toes were broken or not, but the kick he took to his head was enough to keep him dizzy.

"I'm scared," Peter said looking down at his feet. "I mean, what if it's a trap?"

"They want to kill us either way," Morgan said. "They can kill us in here or they could plan something elaborate and kill us out there. I'd rather die fighting than sitting around waiting."

Peter didn't say anything. He wrapped his arms around himself, probably another attempt to stay warm, but Reid noticed the cut on his stomach was still bleeding. This wasn't going to be the end. It couldn't be. They were going to find a way out of there.

The sound of J.J.'s voice drew Reid's attention away from Peter. J.J. was standing in front of the dance studio with a make shift podium set up for her to address the reporters. Reid could still plainly see Peter's parents, his younger sister, and another woman that Reid guessed was the mother of Sarah Nelson. Boyle's parents were holding hands, and the Nelson woman had red eyes from crying. Morgan and Peter also both had their attention on the television, and Reid forgot all about the constant pain he was in when J.J. spoke.

"This case is very active," J.J. told the reporters. She had her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and wore a black coat to protect her from the cold night. "At this time, we would like to report another disappearance that we believe is related to the kidnappings. A woman named Jenny Parker was reported missing earlier tonight. "A photograph replaced J.J. on the screen. It showed a young woman smiling with blonde hair and green eyes. Reid had never seen this woman in his life.

"Do you recognize her?" Morgan asked Peter as he scooted closer to the screen. Why couldn't they be showing a photo of Tatiana? Once they found out Tatiana was missing, it would only be a matter of time before the team came to rescue them. Reid's heart dropped when he saw it was just another victim. Reid couldn't figure out if the unsubs killed her before or after they got to the cabin, but Reid was confident he never saw her before.

"No," Peter said. The kid was looking at her, but the second her photo was gone, Peter's eyes were focused behind J.J. He was staring at his distraught family.

"We are urging the public to keep their eyes open, and if you spot any of the kidnapped victims, call the authorities immediately. If you see the suspects, do not approach them. They are to be considered armed and dangerous. With the help of an artist, we have some better images of the men to show you."

Another image replaced J.J. on the screen. It was just a black and white drawing, but it was a dead ringer for Anthony. Reid couldn't believe it. His short brown hair hung around his face, quite like Michal's dad, but Anthony's hair was darker. His face was a bit more narrow than Michael's was, but they had similar dark blue eyes. Since there wasn't any color added to the drawing, it just made Anthony's eyes look black. Reid's breath caught in his throat. He felt like he was looking into the eyes of the monster that raped him.

"We are showing you a drawing of the man driving the getaway car," J.J.'s voice said. "He is in his late 20s to early 30s. Brown hair. About 6'2 tall. Average weight. Was seen wearing a white sweater, black pants, and white gloves. It is also believed he was wearing tennis shoes. He was seen driving a white sedan with the kidnapped victims in the back seat. If anyone sees him, I cannot urge you enough to not approach him. Call the police immediately."

Anthony's drawing disappeared, and was replaced by a drawing of Michael. Just like Anthony, the drawing look exactly like Michael. It was eerie. The artist had Michael's greasy hair wrapped around his round face, and his thick eyebrows were close to his eyes. His fuller lips were curved in a sickening smile, and his eyes were drawn black. Reid turned around to see how Peter was taking it, and saw Morgan had scooted closer back to the college kid. Peter was shaking again, and he was looking away from the screen.

"This man was in the passenger seat," J.J. said. "He's in his early to mid-20s. He has dark blonde hair and is about 5'10. A little on the heavier side. Was last seen wearing an outfit identical to the driver. White sweater, black pants, and white gloves. Also tennis shoes. We are urging the public to keep a look out for these two men." Michael's drawing shrunk a little and was joined by Anthony's so they could be seen side by side.

"There was a witness," Morgan said confidently. "There's no way somebody could draw those 2 that accurately without seeing them. They probably witnessed one of the abductions. It was a friend or colleague or something, J.J. would have said their names." Morgan was sitting right next to Peter, but the kid still wasn't sitting down. He still had his arms crossed over his chest, and one of his legs was bent over the other.

"She said they are sending out SWAT teams," Peter said. "Do you think there's a chance one of the teams is coming in this direction? I mean, maybe the witness saw the car and saw what way they were heading. Maybe the rest of your team is coming?" Peter had so much hope in his eyes, but Reid didn't think the team was coming.

"Maybe," Morgan said. Reid was so grateful that he didn't have to answer. "We are probably about an hour away from the bookshop. I'm sure they will find us once they get out here. I'm sure their car is the only car in the area and it's white so it shows up better in the dark. I can kinda see the car from the window. They didn't try to hide it or anything." Peter nodded. Reid couldn't tell if he was looking more hopeful or not, but he was starting to look sick.

"Just remember, both of these men will be armed and dangerous. I repeat, do not approach either one of them. Go back into your car or somewhere you consider safe, and then call the police. We already have SWAT teams going to check out some locations where these men may be hiding with the kidnapped victims. Sarah Nelson is 32 years old. Jenny Parker is 29 years old. Peter Boyle is 21 years old. If you have any information at all that you think could help, please don't hesitate to call the police."

When Reid heard the door unlocking, he didn't try hiding like he usually did. There was no point anymore. There was no place to hide in this room, and even if there was, Anthony would find him in a minute or less. Instead of cowering by the couch, he crept over to where Morgan and Peter were. Peter was leaning against the bookcase, and using that as his support, he slid down on the floor next to Morgan. Reid didn't need to do that. He bent his knees, and using his now freed hands, he was able to sit himself gently down.

"Sounds like they were watching the news," Anthony said with a cheery tone in his voice. Just like always, the door locked behind them and Anthony led the way around the couch. Michael was swinging a hammer whistling a tune that Reid didn't recognize. Reid didn't know if he liked the hammer any more than Michael's beloved knife. "Were you enjoying the updates?"

"I was," Michael said in his usually quiet voice. "The blonde lady talking is very pretty."

"You are sure into blondes," Anthony said winking at Peter. Michael didn't look entirely comfortable at the joke though. Michael didn't look over at Peter. He chose instead to look at the hammer he was holding. Reid still couldn't figure out their relationship. He didn't think they were brothers. He didn't even think they were related, but why was Michael staying?

"I was thinking of our next game, but before I forget," Anthony said turning to Michael. "Could you please get the buckets?" Michael nodded and hurried away. "The last trivia game went just as planned so I was thinking of playing it again, but with all three of you this time. We are going to up it a little bit during this round."

"In what way?" Morgan asked. He was already scooting in front of Reid and Peter, but Morgan wasn't any better at random trivia than Peter was. Reid decided right then and there that if Peter was losing, Reid would take the fall for him. Reid wasn't feeling any better than Peter, but this was his job in a sense. He was trained to deal with people like Anthony.

"Remember how I said the four of you would be dead by morning?" Anthony asked. "There's one dead now from your group. Plus, that one girl but she wasn't with you guys. So that leaves you three. By the end of this game, there will only be two left. Doesn't that sound awesome?"

Peter's mouth dropped open, and Reid found himself speechless. He was trying to think of something to say, anything to say to change Anthony's mind on this deadly game when Michael walked back in. He was holding three very full buckets, and after he set down two of the buckets, he threw the third one's contents right on Reid. Freezing water splashed on Reid's drying hair and ran down his body. A sharp gasp escaped from Reid's lips. The others didn't have much time to react. Peter was trying to scoot away from Reid when he was soaked with the second bucket of icy water. Peter screamed. Morgan didn't even try to cover himself when Michael picked up the third bucket and dumped the water on him. He let out a loud gasp as the water hit his skin, but he didn't scream. Michael giggled.

Morgan didn't take any time to dry himself off at all. He scooted back in front of Reid and Peter while Michael put the buckets back in the hallway. Reid felt terrible. His boxers were finally starting to dry off and his hair stopped dripping, and then this happened. His wet boxers clung to his skin, and his wet hair was doing its very best to make sure his shoulders stayed wet. Peter was wrapping himself in a fetal position, but Reid couldn't forget what Anthony just told them.

"Are you gentlemen ready for the game?" Anthony asked. He pulled the arm chair closer to the bookcase and sat down on it. Michael stood beside him swinging the hammer. "Spencer and Peter, please stand up. And don't make this harder on yourselves by trying to fight. Just do as I say and all of this will be over soon."

Reid didn't want to stand back up. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he didn't feel like had a choice. He put his hands on the bookcase behind him, and pulled himself back to his feet. Peter didn't look like he was going to comply at first. He didn't move from his ball position, but after he looked over at Morgan, he let go of his legs. He put his hands flat on the floor and lifted himself up. He stood next to Reid with his head down.

"Aren't you guys excited?" Anthony asked. He crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward. "Oh, and Agent Morgan. We will know if you lose when you lay over flat. You can't exactly fall if you can't exactly stand, right? Makes sense to me."

"Where do you get your trivia questions?" Reid asked. He wanted to keep Anthony talking as long as possible.

"You were the one that said you liked to read, right?" Anthony asked. "No wait, that was Jon Carey. You guys could almost pass for twins. Isn't that funny? I'm a riot. Anyway, though, I'm a lot like Jon I guess. I love reading too. Hope you guys are ready."

"I'm ready," Michael said smiling. He stepped closer to them, and Reid felt his heart start pounding in his chest. He had no doubts that he could answer every single question Anthony threw at him. He was only worried about the others.

"Okay, let's see," Anthony said looking over them. "I can't decide who goes first. We need to make this fair, right? Okay cool, I got it." He pointed his finger at Reid and smiled. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," Anthony started. He wasn't going in any particular order, and his finger just skipped all over the place. Reid was certain Anthony already knew who was going to get the first question. He just wanted to play with them.

"Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go," Anthony continued. Michael was clapping his hands to go with Anthony's tune. Reid didn't think he would ever stop. "Eeny, meeny, miny…" Anthony paused. He closed his eyes and spun around in a circle with his finger in the air. When he stopped, he lowered his finger down and opened his eyes. "Moe!" His finger landed on Reid.

"Okay, first question Mr. Spencer Reid," Anthony said as he sat back down. "How many bones are in the human body?"

Reid didn't even flinch. "When babies are born, there's 270 bones in their body. By the time they reach adulthood, they are down to 206 bones because some of the bones have fused together. This usually happens around the age of 30."

Anthony glanced at Michael who just shrugged. "Okay then, let's have Agent Morgan go next. Ready to test your smarts? How fast does it take for the average person to fall asleep?"

Morgan looked over at Reid. He had to remember this answer. Reid remembered telling him just a few weeks ago when Morgan was complaining he couldn't sleep one night. "Seven minutes," Morgan finally said was uncertainty.

"Let's have an easy one for Peter," Anthony said. "Everyone likes candy. Right? One of my favorite candies is M&Ms. What do the letters actually stand for?"

Reid wanted to know where Anthony was getting these questions from. Most people wouldn't be able to answer these. Morgan probably didn't even know what the initials stood for. Peter took a step back. It was clear the kid had no idea.

"They stand for Mars and Murries," Reid said as quickly as he could. "Those were the last names of the people that made the candy."

Anthony stood up. "If you answer one more question out of turn, I will put a bullet so fast in Agent Morgan's brain that he will have no idea what happened. Understood? Now Peter, in Seasme Street, Oscar the Grouch was green, but that wasn't his original color. What color was he in the first season?"

"Please," Peter begged. "Don't do this."

"Ask him another question," Morgan said. Morgan tried scooting closer to Peter, but there wasn't any way for him to protect Peter from their hammer.

Michel reached out and pulled Peter forward by grabbing onto the boy's hair. Peter's hands went up to get Michael off of him, but it wasn't working. Peter tripped over Morgan, and when he was standing in front of the others, Anthony held him still. Anthony pulled Peter's left wrist away from the rest of his body, and Michael swung the hammer. Peter screamed. Peter's fingers made a sickening cracking sound as the hammer hit, and his index finger was bent all the way back from the force. Reid noticed it was the same hand where Peter lost his pinky so only three of his fingers were broken, but Peter was done using his right hand until rescue came for them. Michael shoved Peter back to the others. Peter cradled his broken fingers with his good hand, and Reid felt like throwing up again.

"Okay, Spencer Reid, where was Fredric Baur buried?" Anthony asked after he sat back down.

"Isn't there another game we can play?" Morgan asked. "Most people don't know the answers to this crap. You aren't giving us a fair chance."

"Who said we play fair?" Michael asked. "All I was hoping for was an entertaining night. I had no idea I'd be having this much fun. This is wonderful."

"He was buried in a Pringles can," Reid said. It was hard to forget something like that, but Morgan was right. Most people would never be able to answer these questions.

"Agent Morgan, when Jay was used a slang term, what exactly did it mean?" Anthony asked. He never took a break between the questions. It was almost like he had them memorized.

Morgan sighed. "I don't know." Michael didn't even wait for Anthony's command. He took a step forward and swung the hammer at Morgan's feet. Morgan was the only one lucky enough to still be wearing shoes, but the shoes didn't protect him from much. The hammer slammed on his toes and Morgan hissed in pain. Reid guessed that Morgan's toes broke just as quickly as Peter's fingers did.

"Peter Boyle, since one of the only questions you got right was about the Titanic, I'll keep on that theme. Name one of the Titanic's sister ships," Anthony said.

"I don't know," Peter said in a voice just barely louder than a whisper. The poor boy was still shivering and holding his broken hand. Reid didn't know what to do.

"Did you like it better when Michael dragged you over here or do you want to act like a man and walk over yourself?" Anthony asked standing up. "Too bad I didn't bring that knife. It could be interesting to open up that cut on your tummy a little bit more. We could find out what's hiding behind all that skin and blood." Michael laughed and stepped forward.

"I could go get the knife if you wanted," Michael said. "That would be a lot more fun than breaking more of his fingers." Michael took another step towards Reid and Peter.

"Please," Peter said. "I'll do whatever you want. Please don't get the knife." A tear ran down Peter's face. "I want to go home." Michael laughed again.

"You'll go home in a body bag if I don't decide to burn the house down after all three of you are dead," Anthony said. "Or in a vacuum bag if I do burn the house down. Isn't that how they get people's ashes up? That's some trivia I don't even know."

Reid was trying to think of a distraction. There had to be something he could do to get their minds off of trying to kill one of them, but he couldn't think of anything. His eye was throbbing from the kick earlier, and his head wasn't working right. It looked like even Morgan was trying to think of some kind of distraction, but the ringing of the doorbell interrupted their thoughts. Peter looked up, and Reid tried looking out the window hoping to see flashing lights. He couldn't see anything though. It was dark out there.

"Oh, how fun," Anthony said. "Looks like we having company." Anthony walked towards the window to look out. If he saw anything, he kept it to himself. "Okay Michael, you stay here with our buddies. If you hear shouting or loud footsteps coming in this direction, kill them. Don't even wait for someone to tell you to put your hands up. Kill Agent Morgan, Agent Reid, and Peter Boyle before it ever gets that far. Only do that though if you hear shouting or footsteps. Got it?"

Michael nodded. "Will do." Michael took Anthony's place on the chair and set the hammer down on his lap. "What are you going to do?"

"If it's a cop out there or some fancy wancy dancy agent, you'll hear shouting. If it's not an agent, I'm pretty sure the person at the front door is going to die. Guess there's only one way to find out. Wish me luck." Anthony ran his fingers through his hair, unlocked the door, and hurried out of the room. The second Anthony was gone, Peter collapsed on the floor.

Reid gently lowered himself down on the floor to be next to the others, and was happy to see that Peter didn't faint. He had his arms over his chest and was sobbing. Reid put an arm over the boy's shoulders and pulled Peter closer to him. Peter was shaking and Reid knew that he was too. They weren't close to the air conditioner, but it was freezing in that room.

"Michael, please," Morgan said. "You need to stop this. If it is the police out there, they will kill you long before you can escape if you don't let us go. Hell, just let Peter and Reid out. You can keep me in here as long as you like. Break my other leg, twist my arm, whatever."

"Sssh!" Michael whispered. "I can't hear what they are saying out there." Michael stood up and went over to the window. Reid didn't care what they were saying anymore. He just didn't. The team wasn't out there. They wouldn't go ringing the doorbell to get the unsubs out. He didn't know who could be at the front door at this time in the night, but it wasn't Hotch or Rossi. If they were lucky, it could be a state trooper on a nightly patrol, and he pulled over when he heard noises in the night. If he went missing, a team would certainly be sent out to find him.

Reid licked his lips and looked over at Michael. "Why do you let him bully you?" Reid asked nervously. Begging Michael for freedom and playing the sympathy card weren't working. They needed to try another tactic. "All he does is call you names and he's constantly making fun of you. Why would you put up with someone like that?"

Michael finally looked away from the window. His dark eyes were just staring at Reid. Reid wrapped his arm tighter around Peter, but he didn't look away. He didn't want to seem like he was afraid of Michael, but in reality, he was terrified. Michael was the one in control since he was the one with the weapons. Reid knew that, but he was hoping Michael forgot. He didn't think Michael would be like this at all if Anthony wasn't in his life. If Anthony stayed outside with the doorbell ringer, Reid was positive he could talk Michael into letting them go. Reid would have sat there all night staring at Michael if that's what it took, but a gunshot going off took Michael's attention away from Reid. Peter gasped, and Reid looked outside.

"You guys better pray that wasn't a cop shooting Anthony," Michael said. He walked back over to them and sat in the armchair. "If Anthony isn't back in 5 minutes, get ready to meet your maker. Pretty sure I'm killing Spencer Reid first, but we'll see." Reid didn't see a gun in Michael's pocket though. If his only weapon was that hammer, it couldn't be that hard to take it from him. Reid could still stand. If he could get Morgan or Peter to hold Michael down, they could take his hammer.

* * *

Rossi stayed behind when Hotch went to check out the neighborhood where the latest victim was last seen. They weren't both needed over there, and from the sound of it, she was the first one taken that night. He chose to stay behind in case any other witnesses came forward. He watched every single report given by J.J. that night, and Hotch was sending him constant updates. He didn't find anything new or helpful at the scene. Rossi didn't think he would, but anything was worth a shot.

He didn't know why, but he was hoping that Morgan or Reid would find a way to contact him. If anyone could find a way to get help, it would be Reid. Morgan was probably going out of his way to keep the boy genius safe. It was just the others that Rossi really worried about. Nelson, Boyle, and now Parker…Morgan couldn't possibly be protecting all of them. When Prentiss told them earlier that she thought one of the kidnapped victims was already dead, Rossi didn't want to believe it. The more he thought about it though, the more sense it made. Sitting all alone in the conference room made him think about it even more, and he was now positive that at least one person was already dead.

"Agent?" an officer asked peaking his head in. He opened the door slightly. Rossi didn't mind. He wasn't doing anything that required the door being shut. "The sheriff from the county over is here. He said he would like to talk to you."

Rossi stood up and nodded. The sheriff could only be bringing information about the kidnappings or he might even know who the unsbubs were. Whatever it was, it had to be important if he drove all the way down there. The young officer smiled at Rossi and opened the door even wider. It was only a few seconds after the cop leaving that the sheriff walked in. He was an older man with thick hair on his head and a thin beard on his face. He wasn't wearing his uniform. He was just wearing jeans a tee shirt like it was his day off, but he walked with urgency. He held a folder underneath his right arm. Rossi held out his hand for the sheriff to shake as they sat down together.

"Agent Rossi, nice to meet you," Rossi said. "I'm sorry I'm the only one here. Most of my team are out on the field right now."

"Were any of your agents abducted?" the sheriff asked. "Sheriff Bolton. Call me Mike. Glad I didn't go to sleep early tonight like the wife wanted or I wouldn't have seen the news."

"Why would you ask if some agents were abducted?" Rossi asked. He didn't think the sheriff had anything to do with the kidnappings, but Rossi knew J.J. didn't tell the media that Reid and Morgan were among the missing.

"No reason," Mike said. "You just said though that most of the team was on location, and I didn't see any other agents here. I can't figure out another reason why this case would be getting so much media coverage though. The youngest victim is a 21 year male, right? So that means there's no kids missing, and you haven't found any bodies to prove that the two men in the white gloves are actually dangerous. The only thing the people in your case have in common is the cell phones left behind."

"How can I help you Mike?" Rossi asked. Rossi didn't care if this guy was the sheriff of Texas. He wasn't going to give information about a case like to this without Hotch knowing.

"Happened to us too," Mike said. "About 2 years ago. I had every available officer working on the case, but the perpetrators were never caught. We didn't have photos or even drawings of the guys who did this, but they sound almost identical."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Rossi asked. He pulled his notebook from across the table with a waiting pen on top. He put his cell phone next to the notebook. If this sheriff had any new information that could help them, he was putting Hotch on speaker phone.

Mike Bolton cleared his throat. "Just happened one night. By morning time, it was over. We didn't know that then of course, but that's what it was. First abduction was a woman working at a library. She was closing up, and the security camera shows her walking to her car, but she never made it home. She didn't park close to the building which wasn't smart. Her keys, purse, and phone were found in the street. She never even unlocked the car. Second and third abductions were about half an hour later. Younger woman with her little brother walking home from a movie together. Both their cell phones found near the theater. Never made it home."

"Names? Ages?" Rossi asked. He was scribbling down everything he heard. "Were the bodies ever found?"

Mike pushed the folder across the table. Rossi opened it up slowly, and the first thing he saw was a smiling woman with auburn hair and green eyes. "That's the library woman. Name was Laura Kelley. 32 years old. Body never found." Rossi pushed her photo to the side and saw the second one. This woman was younger with short brown hair and big brown eyes. She wore a pink headband in the photo. "Older sister. Colleen Martin. 22 years old. She was actually dating one of my officer's sons. He never got over losing her. Body never found." Rossi nodded, and pulled out the last photo. It was of a boy with dark blonde hair and brown eyes very similar to his sister's big eyes. "Little brother. Rory Martin. 19 years old."

Rossi hated looking at photos like that. He closed the folder, but he couldn't get their happy faces out of his mind. "Rory's body was found a few days later," Mike said.

"What?" Rossi looked up. If these cases were related, they needed to know what was done to that boy to lead to his death. "Where was he found? Was an autopsy done? Can we see the results? You didn't find any sign of the others?"

"I'm planning on calling the Martin's mother in the morning," Mike said. "She said she always wanted updates on the case. I don't think she ever lost hope of finding her daughter. We both know that she'd dead, but Mrs. Martin wants a body to bury. Tragic story."

"What killed Rory Martin?" Rossi asked again. He pulled the boy's photo back out.

Mike took a deep breath. "His body was found washed up in some lake about an hour away from where he was taken. It was badly decomposed from being in the water and being exposed to the elements for so long. We didn't let his mother see the body. She wouldn't have taken it very well. Some college kids boating on the lake were the ones that found him. Rory was only wearing his boxers when he was found. We never found the rest of his clothes."

Rossi wrote that down. That sounded like something the unsubs would continue over the course of their killings. Rossi was getting ready to call Hotch.

"Took a while to find out what killed him just because of the state of his body," Mike continued. "Coroner said he probably died the very night he was taken. Broken bones, head wounds, and extensive bruising. Evidence shows that Rory fought back which doesn't surprise me. He was the star football player in high school. Won a full scholarship to college. Coroner said he probably died from blood loss. Deep stab wounds were all over his stomach and chest so the poor guy was suffering, but the assholes who did that to him wouldn't give him a quick death."

"I'm going to call the chief leader," Rossi said. He dialed Hotch's number, and put the phone on speaker so Hotch could ask Mike questions if he needed to.

"They sound related, don't they?" Mike asked. "My men were searching for months around that lake, and we were even thinking of having the damned thing drained to find Colleen and Laura, but we never did. I never closed the case though. Never lost hope that we were going to find their bodies or the monsters that did that to them."

Rossi stood up and went over to the map. He wondered if any of the neighborhoods they circled had lakes nearby. The unsubs obviously didn't plan on the bodies ever getting found which is why they threw the boy's body in the lake and ditched the other bodies. That didn't make much sense though that they went to an upscale neighborhood to torture their victims to death. They wanted their privacy. They weren't plan on getting found.

"Hotch," Hotch said answering the phone. Rossi turned back around to the table.

"I don't think the unsubs took them to those neighborhoods Aaron," Rossi said. He didn't see any lakes nearby or any large area that be used as a dumping ground.

"Why? Did you find some new information?" It was noisy where Hotch was, probably because of the investigators on scene, but Hotch sounded like he was walking.

"I have Sheriff Mike Bolton with me," Rossi explained. "He just told me about a very similar case that he had in his town about two years ago."

"Were there any survivors?" Hotch asked.

"No," Rossi said sadly. "But the victims and what happened to them do sound similar to what is going on right now. Three people went missing, and they did find one of the bodies. In a lake. He washed up on some lake."

"How did he die?" Hotch asked.

"Coroner thought he bled to death," Rossi said looking over at the sheriff. "He was 19 years old. The case that Garcia found said they found the deceased woman on the side of some road. I don't think the unsubs ae planning on the bodies being found. They probably weren't even thinking this boy's body was going to wash up or they wouldn't have put him there."

"So where do you think they are? Did the sheriff get any photos of their unsubs?" Hotch asked.

"Hi Agent Hotch, this is Mike Bolton," Mike said. "We never got any pictures or witnesses on the people who took Kelley or the Martin siblings. We determined it was two different people because three people were kidnapped in less than an hour, and the coroner said Rory was stabbed by two different types of knives. Among other things."

"I don't think they are anywhere near busy neighborhoods," Rossi said. "I'm thinking the trailers or even the state park. From the looks of it, the park looks big. I think we should get some officers over there to look around."

"And I'm willing to help out and lend a few officers," Mike said. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and smiled. "I want to be there when those bastards get caught. Maybe they can tell us where they ditched the bodies of Kelley and Colleen Martin."

"I wouldn't count on it," Rossi said. They might not even remember. It sounded like the unsubs killed quite a few people over a short period of time.

"Okay, I'm on my way back," Hotch said. "Tell the sheriff over there to get the police back to the station. We need to get this organized before we send people over there. I've been to that state park before and it's huge. It's easy to get lost, and I don't think we should go with blaring lights and noise. I'm afraid that if we make an announcement like that, they will just kill the victims. I'm not risking that. We need a plan."

Rossi agreed. "Okay Aaron, I'm going to call up the forest ranger and see who is working tonight. They can tell us where all of the cabins are located. I'm sure they are spread apart, and I have a feeling there's probably a lake nearby."

"I'm going to call Prentiss and have her meet us at the station," Hotch said. "I want J.J. to keep doing the news reports. I have a feeling the unsubs are watching. I don't want them to think anything is suspicious."

Rossi was sure that J.J. would want to come, but they couldn't have anything stand out to the unsubs. Everything had to be the same. They had no leads, no ideas, nothing. If anything, there were only more victims. The unsubs needed to think they were in control. J.J. would stay and keep talking to the reporters if that meant saving Reid and Morgan.

 _yay! hope you guys liked this chapter. things will be getting a lot darker in the next few chapters so just a pre warning for you guys right there. but please leave a review and let me know how you liked chapter 8 and if u would like 2 see anything in future chapters. till next time my friends! xoxoxoxo_


	9. Chapter 9

_I am sooooooooooooo sry for the super long delay. there hasn't been any deaths in the family or any really good excuse 2 explain my absence from my stories. it hurts me too thinking about how I haven't written in so long. I just started this chapter yesterday so I'm happy 2 see that I'm done with it already. I don't think my writing muse has ever left me and for that I am grateful. ive already gotten several requests for other story ideas, but I wont be making any new stories until I finish with this one. its waaaay 2 hard working on more than one story at once. I'm sure that some people can. I'm just not one of them lol. well, heres chapter 9 so I hope everyone loves it lots xoxo_

Prentiss could barely contain her excitement when Hotch told her that the possibility of the unsubs hiding out in the state park were high. She was willing to get in her car and drive down to the park that very minute, but Hotch was having them all meet at the station. The unsubs were smart, and there was no way in telling how they would act once they were cornered. They needed to have a plan in place. J.J. was upset that she couldn't go with them, but she understood that the unsubs had to believe that the police still had no leads. Prentiss didn't even want to tell Boyle's father, but she had promised to keep him updated. She could tell that he was just as excited as she was, but he agreed to keep the information away from the reporters. She hoped he wasn't going to tell his daughter because children did have a tendency to say things they shouldn't say without realizing the consequences, but she never told him. He was a smart man, and he wasn't going to do anything to put his son in even more danger. J.J. was back outside taking questions from reporters when Prentiss got into her car and drove to the station.

Both Hotch and Rossi were already at the station when she got there. Hotch was busy talking to a group of officers, and Rossi was standing in front of a bulletin board with photos of the missing on it. She hated seeing a picture of Reid and Morgan next to the others, but she was going to make sure her boys got home soon. Boyle's photo was next to Reid, and the two missing women were above them in what looked like a tentative order of when they were taken. Parker was first, then Nelson, and then the three guys. Behind the photos was a large print out of what Prentiss assumed was the state park. The area itself looked massive. She was sure they were being kept in a cabin versus some little cave or something, but she wouldn't have any idea on where to begin.

"If there's only 2 unsubs, 5 victims seems like a lot to handle," Prentiss said quietly. She found it difficult to believe that all four were still alive before Parker came along. Now with five confirmed abductions, it seemed impossible. She was sure at least one of them was already dead. She looked back up at the photographs of the smiling faces, but she couldn't imagine which one the unsubs would want to kill first. The biggest threat to the unsubs would be Morgan, and it looked like the weakest of the missing group would be the Boyle kid. Prentiss wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was sure one of them was already dead.

"So we have to move fast," Rossi said. "I tried calling up the park ranger to see how many cabins are out there, and he couldn't give me an exact number over the phone. I think once we drive down there, we can find out easy."

"And then the plan is to go door to door?" Prentiss asked. The state park was huge. She couldn't imagine how many people had cabins out there. That would take all night.

"Once the park rangers are able to give us the names of the owners of all the cabins, we can have Garcia look them up. I doubt the unsubs actually own one of the cabins, but maybe one of the missing women do. They could even have a boyfriend or friend that owns the cabin. We won't know until we have names," Rossi said. He looked stressed, but he was handling himself well.

Hotch stopped talking to the officers, and turned around to face Prentiss and Rossi. "We will be taking a few of them with us. I don't want sirens going off or a lot of cars to alert the unsubs that we are here. If the unsubs are hiding in one of the cabins and we run into problems, I have the SWAT team ready. I am hoping we catch the unsubs by surprise so they won't have time to react. I don't know what rangers are working tonight, but this officer says he knows that place like the back of his hand."

"My parents own a cabin there," he told them. "Name is Calvin, and I'm happy to help you guys find these sickos." Calvin looked to be in his 40s, but his brown hair was already thinning and his eyes told Prentiss that he had been working way too long as a police officer. There was something sad about his brown eyes, but his smile was kind and the other officers seemed to like him. Prentiss wasn't here to profile some cop though. She was there to bring her friends home.

"If we do find someone there connected to the missing women, what's the plan?" Rossi asked. They were going to surround the house, but there had to be a way to get inside without anyone else getting hurt.

"I could go to the door posing as one of the rangers," Calvin volunteered. "I could come up with some excuse to get them outside, and then one of you could go in through the back or something."

"We're not making any plans until we make sure the unsubs are actually in one of those cabins," Hotch said firmly. "If they are out there, they have two of my agents so I don't need anything going wrong. If we do go that route, I think Rossi or Prentiss would be a better choice. They know better how to handle people like our unsubs. We are going to be driving down there in civilian cars. No lights, no noise. We aren't drawing attention to ourselves. The unsubs won't know we are there until we want them to."

Everyone agreed, and they left in four separate vehicles. The sheriff stayed behind at the station, probably hoping that he would get more phone calls from new witnesses, and J.J. was still talking to the press when they left. J.J. was still getting bombarded with questions, and Prentiss could just see the Boyle family standing behind her. Everyone was praying for the best possible outcome. Prentiss got in a car with Rossi, and they were silent for most of the ride. They were both lost in their own thoughts, but even if Rossi did start talking, she didn't know if she could listen. She was so worried about what they would find out there in the park. They could be wrong of course. The unsubs could be hiding out in a trailer somewhere or even in one of the fancy neighborhoods, but Prentiss didn't think so. She could feel it in her gut.

The drive seemed to take forever. The clock told her it wasn't any more than 40 minutes, but it felt like an entire day had gone by before she started seeing the tall trees of the park. She didn't see anyone running through the muddy grounds and she couldn't hear any screams in the distance. She didn't know why she was hoping to find a clue as good as those. If there was something going on in one of those cabins, she was going to have to find it out herself. The woods weren't going to give away their secrets.

Rossi and Prentiss were the first ones there. Hotch wanted it that way as well. They needed to blend in, and if the unsubs heard a whole bunch of cars driving through, they would get suspicious or worried. They couldn't have anything going wrong. She was glad that Rossi was driving instead of her. One wrong turn would take them deeper into the woods, and she wondered how many people had been lost in the years. Getting lost in the woods on a cold night like this could mean a death sentence. She blinked away those thoughts, and got out of the car as soon as Rossi parked it. Prentiss noted that the only other cars there probably belonged to the park rangers. The lights were on inside, and she could see two men through the windows. This was it. Reid and Morgan were going to be found safe. She would make sure of it, and she would personally call Boyle as soon as his son was safe in her car.

* * *

When Morgan heard the gun shot go off in the other room, he could feel his heart start pounding in his chest. Peter flinched and backed further against the wall, but Reid didn't. Reid was staring at Michael's pockets. Morgan didn't see the outline of a gun anywhere on their captor. If Michael was planning on killing them, it wasn't going to be with a gun. Morgan couldn't see any flashing lights outside, but that made perfect sense to him. Hotch and the others weren't going to announce their arrival. It could have easily been an officer or even someone from the team that shot Anthony. It wouldn't make sense for them to shoot him unless Anthony pulled a gun out on them or something, but with Anthony gone, all that left was Michael. Michael wasn't as big of a threat as Anthony was, and even he was looking less than confident. Morgan found Reid's eyes and saw the boy genius was thinking the same thing. They would be able to overpower Michael.

Michael was still staring anxiously out the window. Morgan didn't know what he was looking for, but he didn't care. Morgan sat back closer to Reid and Peter, but he was focused more on the blonde haired kid. "Do you think you could help Reid get the hammer from his pocket?" Morgan whispered. "If you get him over here, I can help hold him down. He's not that strong."

"Neither am I," Peter whispered back. Peter lifted up his badly swollen right hand, and Morgan noticed the kid was still shaking all over.

"We can sit here and wait for him to use that hammer on our heads or we could do something about it," Morgan persisted. He knew the kid was scared. He was too, but he wasn't going to wait around to get murdered if he could stop it. It would be hard using only one leg, but he would find a way if he had to.

"I'll be with you," Reid said. Reid was already getting back on his wobbly feet. Reid had more courage than anyone ever gave him credit for. Morgan didn't know if it was because he was afraid for his own life or if he was desperate to save Peter, but Reid was standing before Morgan could say another word.

"Okay," Peter said once Reid was on his feet. "Okay. What do you want me to do?" Morgan was eternally grateful that the kid wasn't crying in the corner somewhere like so many others would do in this kind of situation. This wouldn't work at all if all 3 of them couldn't contribute.

"Jump on his back and when he's on the floor, I'll grab the hammer," Reid whispered. "We have to do this fast." Reid licked his lips, and nodded at Morgan. Morgan couldn't jump Michael or anything, but if they got Michael on the ground, Morgan wouldn't mind giving him a good punch down. He needed it. Morgan didn't a hammer to kill this guy.

Michael was still just staring out the window. Peter bit the corner of his mouth, and stepped towards their captor. Reid was right behind him. They still couldn't hear anything coming out from the hallway, and Morgan figured this was their only chance. When Peter got right behind Michael, he didn't hesitate. He jumped on Michael's back, and Michael fell on his knees. Reid dodged forward, and grabbed the hammer from his back pocket. Michael was still stronger than Peter though, and he forced himself on top of Peter, but Morgan didn't forget his role. Morgan used his good arm to pull himself forward, and as soon as he was able, he took Michael by his hair and dragged the monster towards him. Peter crawled next to Reid as soon as Michael was off of him, and Morgan already punched his captor right in the eye. Michael screamed. He screamed loud, but he didn't just lay there and let Morgan attack him. Michael fought right back.

Michael tried to flip Morgan over like he did to Peter. Morgan might have been in pain, but he was still stronger than the little shit keeping them captive. Morgan delivered punch after punch to the sorry son of a bitch underneath him, and in all of the commotion, he didn't hear the door open. He probably would have just kept on punching Michael if he wasn't interrupted.

"Hands off him agent," Anthony's familiar voice said loudly. "If you don't, I wouldn't mind slamming this bar into your buddy's head. It wouldn't be a clean kill, but I already said you guys wouldn't be alive by morning."

Morgan turned his head just enough to see Anthony was standing directly behind Reid, and he had a crowbar in his arms. Morgan didn't need to be told twice. He raised his good arm up, and Michael shoved Morgan off of him. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to Anthony's side. His left eye was swelling up, and Morgan was willing to bet Michael's nose was broken. Morgan scooted over to the bookcase where Peter was now sitting, and Anthony shoved Reid forward to join them. Reid fell on his scabbed knees without complaint, and crawled by his friends.

"I can't believe I'm gone for 5 minutes," Anthony said pacing in front of them.

"More like 10 minutes," Michael muttered. He kept one of his hands over his swollen eye, but Morgan still felt pride for what he did. If he only had a few more minutes, he could have easily killed Michael.

"Okay, 10 minutes alone, and I come back to this," Anthony said. "I'm glad I came back to check on you guys. I thought I heard something back here."

"Who was outside?" Michael asked. "I didn't see any lights or anything outside."

Anthony swung the metal bar in front of him. Peter flinched and scooted further back. "Didn't catch the fellow's name. Saw that he was alone and he was holding pink flowers so I shot him. In the head. He's on the porch now so we should probably move him before we get some wild animals sniffing around. I was going to myself when I heard noises back here. Pretty sure he was dating the dead girl who lived here."

"Tatiana," Michael said.

"Yes Tatiana," Anthony said. "Her lover boy is needing our assistance outside, but it seems like we have a tiny problem now. Don't we?" He took a step closer to those on the floor, and Morgan resisted the urge to scoot back. He wasn't going to give these creeps any pleasure in knowing that he was afraid. The bullet stuck in his arm was burning, and every time he even tried moving his leg, it took most of his will power to keep from screaming. "So what happened Michael?"

"Skinny agent took the hammer," Michael said. Reid took the hammer from behind one of the books and pushed it towards them. Michael picked it up, and put it back in his pocket. "Blonde kicked jumped me and black guy attacked me."

"I do like to hear both sides of every story before I jump to conclusions," Anthony said. He put both of his arms behind his back hiding the crowbar from Morgan's sight. "Now tell me honestly, is that what happened?"

"I would do it again," Morgan growled. He didn't want to call the attention to himself, but he knew that Anthony was going to use that crowbar on one of them. The last thing he wanted to do was volunteer, but he would rather get beat up than let it happen to Reid or Peter.

"It was all of us," Reid said suddenly speaking up. "A bear is able to smell a carcass even from 20 miles away. It won't take long until one ends up at the front door. I wouldn't let that body sit out there longer than it has to unless you want to get into a fight with a hungry bear."

Reid was smart, and Anthony did take a pause after Reid mentioned how well bears could smell. It wouldn't be hard to shoot a bear from a window, but Anthony was trying to keep everything quiet. He probably chose this cabin just because of how far away from the city it was. He needed everything to be quiet, and a bear attack would draw unnecessary attention. "Agent Morgan was the ring leader though. Right Michael?"

Michael nodded, and Anthony took the crowbar from behind his back. Morgan's heart sped up just from looking at the weapon, but he had to stay calm. He knew the team was close. He could almost sense them. They just had to hold out a little while longer.

"Michael, would you mind lifting up his arm?" Anthony asked. "The one that got shot at. I don't want it getting in the way."

"What are you going to do?" Peter asked. Michael did as he was told, and he stretched out Morgan's arm. It hurt like hell, and he had to keep reminding himself that he was doing this to keep Reid safe. He knew that Anthony still had the gun on him, and he could shoot any one of them at any time so Morgan didn't fight Michael.

"This will only take a second," Anthony promised. He brought the crowbar over his shoulder like a baseball bat, and swung it down right down on Morgan's outstretched arm. Morgan didn't feel anything until Michael dropped his arm back down. Then a scream came somewhere deep inside Morgan that he couldn't control, and his mouth opened wide in a pained yell. He fell to his side on the floor, but blood was running down his arm and soaking up the carpet. Both Peter and Reid were at his side before he even knew it. All he could focus on was the intense pain coming from his arm. He didn't hear Anthony and Michael leave, and he wasn't aware when Reid lifted up the broken arm on some book. It was only then that Morgan saw the damage.

Blood was everywhere. Reid and Peter were already ripping at their boxers for any extra cloth to use to stop the bleeding, but that wasn't Morgan's main concern anymore. Directly in the middle between his wrist and elbow, he could just see white bone sticking out of the broken flesh. It wasn't a lot, and the blood almost hid it away, but there was no denying it was there. The broken arm had positioned itself at an odd angle, and it took everything inside Morgan to keep from puking. Reid didn't seem to take notice as he put pressure on the wound, and Peter was still trembling as he wiped the blood off Morgan's arm.

"It's okay pretty boy," Morgan said forcing a smile. "I'll live. I've been through worse."

"Are you feeling light headed at all?" Reid asked. Mogan felt dizzy, but there was no need in telling Reid.

"I feel fine," Morgan lied. "It's just a little break."

"You have an open fracture," Reid said. "It doesn't look good, but I think the bleeding has gone down a little." Morgan couldn't tell. He didn't even want to look at his arm anymore.

"Should we try to push the bone back in?" Peter asked.

"No," Reid said without thinking the question over. "That could just make things worse. Someone needs to be able to set the bone. He needs to go to the hospital."

Morgan felt like laughing. Was that from feeling light headed? Morgan had no idea, but he knew there wasn't a hospital in his immediate future. He was going to have to suck it help until help finally arrived. He didn't laugh though. Reid grabbed one of the larger books from the shelf, and put it underneath Morgan's arm. Using strips of cloth from his boxers, he tied the book to stay underneath the broken arm.

"What's that for?" Peter asked. Peter was actually doing a very good job at cleaning the blood up, and while Morgan still couldn't bear to look at his arm, it felt cleaner.

"A splint," Reid said. "It's not the best one, but it should support his arm until he's at the hospital." Reid covered up the protruding bone, and after making sure the book was going to stay put, Reid sat back down. "I know it's going to be hard here, but try not moving it too much."

"When are they coming back?" Morgan asked. He felt better after his arm was bandaged up. He leaned his head against the shelf and glanced out the window. He still didn't see any lights. This wasn't the end. The team hadn't forgotten about them. J.J. was still talking to reporters on the television, and Morgan noted that Peter's parents and sister were still behind her. Hotch and Rossi hadn't made any statements lately. Did that mean they were on their way?

"They didn't say," Reid said. The boy genius had his eyes glued to the television, and Peter had his legs back up to his chest. "I know they wanted to move the body from the front door, and Michael wanted to get ready for his game after he cleaned up his face."

"What's the game?" Morgan asked. He didn't honestly care, but he needed to know what they were dealing with.

"It's hide and go seek or something," Peter said.

"They want us to find a way to leave the house," Reid explained. "I'm sure we might have a better chance of getting help if we are outside, but I would get lost and so would Peter."

"It's probably a trap," Peter said. "They want us to open the front door, and when we do, they will shoot at us or something. They said all of us will be dead by the morning. I'm scared."

Morgan couldn't argue with that. If something sounded too good to be true, it usually was, but what if there was something else they could do? Reid and Peter didn't have to go around opening all the doors. "Look for a phone," Morgan suddenly said. "Don't go to the front door or back door or anything. Find a phone. It only takes a few seconds to dial the police, and if Michael and Anthony are by the front door, they won't see what you're doing."

Reid perked up. "Michael did say there was a phone somewhere. I'm betting it's in one of the bedrooms or maybe the kitchen. I don't think it would be out in the open." Reid's hands were covered in Morgan's blood from making the splint. It made Morgan's stomach roll. The kid should be at home dreaming about the new book he got. He shouldn't be here. Reid continued to amaze Morgan time after time, but Reid had already been through so much already. Morgan couldn't ask him to do any more, but Morgan couldn't venture out into the cabin for the game. He knew that. He could barely stand on his own, and his arm was causing him a lot more pain than he let on. Reid and Peter were the only ones strong enough to find a phone, and Morgan was afraid they were already standing on thin ropes. Peter was still shaking from the ice cold water thrown on him and the air conditioner blowing on his hair, and whenever Reid turned around, Morgan could still see blood on pretty boy's boxers from the violent rape he suffered through.

"If you don't want to go out, I'm sure you don't have to," Morgan said. He wanted them to go out and find the damned phone, but he wasn't sure either one of the boys were up for it. The phone was their best bet for rescue, but if Peter and Reid weren't up for it, Morgan was sure they could find another way out.

"I can do it," Reid said confidently. "I know where the kitchen is. I'll look there first."

Peter didn't look as confident as Reid did, but got out of his fetal position. "What room do you want me to check first?" Morgan turned to face them. He was probably more scared than they were. If something went wrong out there, Morgan was never going to forgive himself. It was up to him to get Reid and Peter out of there, and he wasn't going to stop trying until they were safe.

* * *

Brian was just expecting another boring night at the park. He was actually having trouble staying awake. He had the day off yesterday, and stayed up a lot later than he should have so he was paying the price for it tonight. Tony was doing some weed behind the television so he wasn't doing anything to help Brian keep his eyes open. Brian was just waiting for their boss to make a surprise visit and scare Tony out of his mind, but it never happened. Brian had this job for about 5 years now, and not once had their boss made a surprise visit so Tony kept up his little drug habit at work and Brian never thought twice about bringing alcohol to work with him sometimes.

"Anything cool happen yesterday on your day off?" Tony asked. Brian couldn't believe there was a single thing to watch on TV. Not one show. There were some reruns of the Simpsons, and there was some breaking news which usually bored the hell out of him. The most exciting thing he ever had on his job was keeping some angry moose away from obnoxious tourists. Moose can actually be extremely dangerous animals, and most people never realize that until the animal charges at them, but that only happened once. His job mostly consisted of handing out maps, and on some holidays, he gave guided tours on some of the trails. That was fun, but most of the time was just sitting locked in that cabin waiting for something to happen.

"Not really," Brian said. "Just hung out with Nikki. She wants me to take her to some special dance for Valentine's Day."

"You gonna go?" Tony asked. Tony turned off the news, and flipped the channels until he found a cartoon. Brian didn't argue. He'd rather watch cartoons too.

"I guess," Brian said. "I mean, it sounds lame as fuck, but I guess I owe her after she went to the game with us and her birthday is coming up soon so yeah. I guess." Brian hated doing all those girly girl things, but he did love Nikki. He wanted to make her happy. As soon as he found a better job, he was going to ask her to marry him. He was sure she would say yes. "What about you? Any steady girlfriend yet?"

"Not yet," Tony said. "I mean, I guess I should be looking better. I haven't really been looking, ya know? I'm still young. I just don't really wanna be held down by any one woman yet."

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya," Brian said. "Good girls can be hard to find though so once you get one, hold onto her tight or another guy might just snatch her up." When Brian heard a call pull up outside, he didn't connect it with the phone call they got earlier from some dude claiming to work for the FBI. He assumed it was the owner of one of the cabins who got lost trying to find their way back. It happened all the time so he didn't even stand up until the door opened.

A man and a woman walked in, one right after the other. The woman shut the door behind her, and the man walked right up to Brian. He pulled a badge out of his jacket, and Brian swore his heart skipped a beat when he saw this man was an FBI agent. The woman had her badge out as soon as the door was shut. Tony hid his weed as quickly as he could into on the desk drawers, but Brian was sure the lady agent already saw it. She didn't say anything though.

"Agent Rossi," the man said quickly. "And this is Agent Prentiss. I believe I talked to one of your earlier about getting the names of everyone who owns a cabin out here. I'm going to need those names ASAP, and if you can't get them quickly, I know a computer genius who can. I'd like to have those names before the rest get here."

"The rest?" Tony asked. Brian sat back down at his desk, and pulled up the files they were asking for. It was going to take a while to get all of the names, but he could do it.

"Do you know how many people are currently staying in the cabins?" Agent Prentiss asked. She circled behind the desk to watch Brian work.

"We don't require them to check in," Brian said. "It usually isn't that crowded this time of year, but it varies a lot so it's hard to say."

"Is there a way to find out?" Agent Rossi asked. "Could you call them up or would we have to go door to door?"

Agent Prentiss pulled two drawings out of her jacket and put them on the desk in front of Brian. "We are looking for these men. They are armed and dangerous, and we have reason to believe they are hiding out in one of these cabins. This isn't a game or joke. These men are holding hostages, and if we don't hurry, the hostages could be dead soon."

"This is what the news was talking about?" Tony asked. "With all those missing people?"

"Have you seen these men?" Agent Prentiss asked. "These are just drawings so little details might be different, but these are the guys we are looking for."

Both Tony and Brian looked at the sketches. Brian wanted to recognize the guys. He really did, but he didn't. He was positive he never saw those guys walking around before, but that didn't mean they weren't there. If somebody wanted to hide, the woods offered the perfect protection. Brian and Tony shook their heads, but Brian got back to work. He wouldn't mind if the FBI had someone who could help him work faster, but the names were popping up. He couldn't tell them the background of the owners of the cabins, but he did have their names and numbers. He was printing out the lists, and Agent Prentiss picked up the list and scanned through the names. She was on the phone as he was printing on the second page.

"Hey Garcia," she said into the phone. "Yeah, we might need your help. I have some names here, but I didn't know if it would be easier for you to stay where you are or if it would be easier to come down here. They have computers, but they probably aren't as fast as yours. Yeah, I think the boys might be here. It's black outside. It's everything the unsubs could want. Okay. I'll see you soon." She put her phone back in her pocket, and picked up the second list of names.

"Garcia on her way?" Agent Rossi asked.

"Yeah, and she's bringing her own computer. It would probably be easier than calling back and forth, and Hotch is almost here. I don't recognize any of the names yet."

"I'm not against going door to door," Rossi said. "We won't get lost with Calvin with us, and we might be able to cover more ground if one of you two could help?" The agent looked at Brian and Tony. Tony probably knew the woods better than Tony, but Brian didn't trust him to guide a group of cops around the park in the middle of the night.

"Yeah, I can," Brian said.

"So Hotch can go with Calvin, and I'll go with Brian," Rossi said. "It shouldn't take more than an hour to go through all the cabins with 2 groups?"

"Depending on what you're looking for," Brian said. "But yes."

"I'll go with you guys then," Prentiss said. "Are there any animals living out there that we should be aware of?"

"There are a lot of animals, but most of them avoid human interaction," Brian said. "I don't we will have any problems with the animals. Kinda sounds like you guys are gonna have more problems with these bad guys you're looking for."

"If we find the unsubs, we won't let you be in harm's way," Rossi said gently. Brian didn't care about some crazy dude shooting at him. He could already see another black SUV pulling into the parking lot so he never felt safer in his life. He didn't like the idea of hostages though. He was never a fan of horror movies and was always against hunting, and even the thought of someone getting murdered so close to him sent chills down his veins. He didn't want to be there anymore. He wanted to go home and see Nikki, but he knew the FBI needed his help. He loved the idea of being considered a hero and helping out take out some crazy bad guys, but if someone died that night, he vowed to quit the job and never come back.

* * *

Peter couldn't stop shaking. He couldn't see this working out. Even if they could find the mysterious phone and call the police, wouldn't one of the captors find them and just shoot them dead? He didn't want to die yet. He wanted to go home and hug his little sister, and tell his parents that he did everything he could to help the police and stay alive. Crying in the corner wasn't going to help anyone though. If he wanted his freedom, he was going to have to get off his butt and help them. The little voice in his head wouldn't go away. Something bad was going to happen, but like Morgan pointed out earlier, something bad was going to happen either way.

Their plan wasn't discussed in detail. Anthony and Michael were only gone a few minutes so Peter didn't know where they ditched the body of Tatiana's boyfriend, but he certainly wasn't buried in the backyard. Michael was wearing a clean jacket over the white shirt, but both of them still had those stupid white gloves on. Peter volunteered to check out one of the bedrooms, but he had to remember that he didn't need to say anything. He just needed to call the police and leave the phone off the hook. Morgan promised him that the police would be able to trace his call and it wouldn't take long for help to arrive. Peter kept telling himself that as Michael paced in front of them with his hands behind his back.

"The point of this game is to find your way out," Michael said. "And, it's entertainment. It's always entertainment. The winner of the game is the first one out, and the winner gets a nice prize at the end. Anthony and me promise not to interfere with the game. We'll stay quiet on the sidelines, but you guys only get 5 minutes. When the time is up, we will take you guys back here and discover the winner."

Morgan and Reid kept exchanging glances. He was sure that they were able to communicate with each other without using words, but Peter hadn't learned that skill yet. All he had to keep him going was the video footage of his family on the news. Clara was holding one of her favorite dolls, their dad probably found it in his car, and she was holding it close to her. He had to get back home to see her again. He wanted promise his sister that he would never go missing again, and he needed to comfort his mom. He didn't like to see her crying. He had no choice but to ignore the little voice in his head begging him to stay put.

"Timer starts the second we leave the room," Michael continued. "Hope you have no questions cause I don't feel much like answering any."

"Looks like we're good to go then," Anthony said. "I wish good luck to you guys, and let the game begin." Antony and Michael left the room one right after the other, but this time, the door didn't lock behind them. Peter and Reid didn't move for almost a full minute.

"Sounds like they went outside," Morgan told them. "I bet they are standing by the front door. You guys better hurry though. Just remember. Dial the number, leave the phone off the hook, and get back here fast."

"Try not to move your arm," Reid reminded Morgan. Reid used the couch as support as he lifted himself back onto his very unsteady feet. "We'll try to be back before the time is up."

"Be careful," Morgan told them. Morgan crawled over to the couch to wait there for them to come back. Peter wished he was staying with him, but Peter bit his lip and followed Reid out into the dark hallway.

Peter tried to watch his step. He wouldn't put it past Anthony and Michael to leave traps just lying around, but Peter didn't see anything. His path looked clear. Reid turned around, and ran his tongue over his dry lips again. "Okay. I'm going to the kitchen which just around the corner from the bedroom so I won't be far. If you don't find a phone right away, don't keep looking. I haven't been keeping track of the time, and we didn't have much time to begin with."

"Okay," Peter whispered back. Peter watched Reid make a break for the kitchen when they were near the front door, and Peter kept on going straight to the first bedroom he saw. Before he went to the door, he saw the thermostat on the wall. He didn't care if Anthony found out about this after the game, but Peter would warm them up while he could. He turned it up all the way to 80 degrees, and he could have stood there all night feeling the warm air blow on him, but he had a job to do. He turned to the bedroom door, and wanted to give up the second the door didn't open when he pushed. It was almost like something was blocking it so he pushed again. The stubborn door opened with the second try.

The bedroom was just as black as the rest of the house. It seemed like the only light in the entire house was coming from their den. Peter took a step in, and tripped over a figure on the floor. That is what was blocking the door. He looked closer as his eyes adjusted to the dark, and he saw a woman with blonde hair lying on the ground. She wore her hair in a low ponytail, but he saw blood all around her. Peter made a safe bet that this Jenny Parker, and she had probably been killed before Peter and the others ever got there. He cautiously stepped over her body, and went over to the night stand by the window.

He pulled back the curtains, and was disappointed to see that this room didn't have bars on the windows. Jenny had a better chance of escape than Peter ever did, but he couldn't concentrate on that now. He threw some papers and books off the night stand, and he couldn't believe his luck when he found a phone. It wasn't plugged in, but that only took a second. Once it was plugged in, it worked perfectly. He dialed the magical numbers, and felt like crying when he heard a woman come through on the line.

"911 What's your emergency?"

Peter resisted his urge to start screaming into the receiver. He put the telephone down without hanging up, just as he was told to, and walked slowly back to the door. He could hear the woman continue talking into the phone, but his part was done. He couldn't wait to tell Reid and Morgan. He knew the closest station wasn't exactly close, but at least help was on the way. He got one of his legs over the woman on the floor when he heard a strange noise. He looked down just in time to see the woman lunging at him with a knife in her hands. He was in too much shock to even move. What was even happening? Wasn't this lady dead? He brought his hands up to cover his face, but that wasn't where she aiming. She stabbed her knife right between his legs, and Peter felt the cold instrument go right through his skin. She didn't let the knife stay there for long before she tore it back out of him. Peter was on the floor before he even realized he was screaming. He hands went down to protect himself, but she had him on his back and wouldn't stop attacking him. He counted the shiny knife go down on him twice before he couldn't think straight anymore. His stomach felt wet, and he felt like he had something caught in his throat that he couldn't cough up, but if he just laid there, he was going to die.

He lifted both of his hands up as fast as he could, and put them against her shoulders. Using the last of his strength, he pushed her off of him. He grabbed the knife from her as she fell near the bed. He couldn't wait for her to get back up though. If he waited, she could attack him again and it wouldn't take much effort from her to get the knife back. He struggled to open the door. It was jammed again. What the hell was wrong with this damned door? He pushed his weight against it, and it finally opened. He shut the door behind him, but he didn't hear her coming after him. He wanted to get back to the den. He hated that room more than anything, but he would feel safer with Morgan and Reid. He only made it a few agonizing steps before collapsing on the floor. He took a deep breath and coughed when he heard Reid's voice calling for him.

* * *

Hotch rode with Calvin over to the state park. Calvin had the radio on, but he assured Hotch that he knew this place like the back of his hand so he wouldn't need any directions. It turned out that he was right. He knew every twist and turn that the dirt road had to offer, and it wasn't long before they were pulling up behind Rossi's car. He saw the agents talking to what he guessed were park rangers through the windows, and he was out of the car as soon as Calvin parked it. It was warm inside the cabin, and Prentiss was already circling out all of the cabins that hung on a map on the wall. There were a lot of cabins, and Rossi was highlighting names of people that he wanted Garcia to look into. Hotch was already told that she would be coming, and he thought that was a terrific idea. It would be easier than calling her every minute with a new name.

"Any news yet?" Hotch asked them. Rossi dropped the list in front of Hotch, and went over to the coffee maker to pour himself a cup. Hotch smelled something when he first walked in, but the smell didn't belong to coffee. He looked over at the 2 park rangers. One was keeping busy on the computer, but the other fellow looked extremely nervous sitting at his desk. One look on his face told Hotch that he was hiding something, but Hotch wasn't going to press it. He had more important matters at hand.

"Neither one have the rangers have seen the unsubs," Rossi said. "And since we've been here, they haven't gotten any calls."

"Did anyone call you earlier today?" Prentiss asked.

The ranger at the computer looked up at them when he spoke. He had some breakouts on his skin, but he wasn't nearly as nervous as his buddy seemed. "Not since I've been in. I mean, we might have gotten weird phone calls earlier, but Shirley never mentioned any. Why? Do you think the bad guys would call here?"

"That isn't likely, but one of the kidnapped victims might have tried to call," Hotch told him. "If the phone rings, let one of us take the call just in case." The ranger nodded. "Do any of the names seem like they could be related to one of the people with Reid and Morgan?"

Rossi shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, it's hard to tell because people get married or change their names, but not one of these people have the same last name. There isn't a single Parker, Nelson, or Boyle."

"Then why are you highlighting names?" Hotch asked.

"These people either have large cabins or the cabins aren't close to the highway," Rossi explained. "They are going to need a larger place to hide 5 people."

"And how long until Garcia is here?" Hotch asked.

"Less than half an hour," Prentiss said. "She wanted to start looking up names on the way over, but she isn't getting a very good connection so she has to wait, but it won't be long."

Hotch sat down next to Rossi at the table, and thought about getting a coffee himself. It was late, but he didn't think he would really need the caffeine to keep himself awake. His nerves were doing a pretty good job at that without the extra help. "Looks like the biggest cabins are in the middle of the forest, and they are all owned by families. The Jones' family owns the largest cabin. It looks like it's the only 2 story cabin here."

"They only come for Christmas, and they leave a little after New Year's Day," the ranger said. "Nice people. They have 3 kids. I think its two girls and a boy, but yeah. I like it when they come. Dad is a lawyer, and he usually brings a present for me since I'm always here."

"How about the Watsons?" Rossi asked. He was already scribbling down what the ranger told them. It was impossible for this kid to know every family by name, but he would probably work out just fine until Garcia got there.

"Watsons, Watsons… Yeah, I know them. Older couple. Always come during the winter time with their grandchildren. Think 5 of them. Younger kids, but they love hiking. Watsons always bring their toy poodles. Those dogs are always barking I swear."

"Garlands?" Rossi asked.

"They have the pretty daughters," the other ranger said speaking up. He looked like he immediately regretted his decision in speaking and looked down.

"Yes, they have two daughters. Both girls in their 20s. The couple was always very nice when I spoke to them. The daughters usually kept to themselves," the original ranger said.

"Did either one of the girls ever stop by without their parents?" Hotch asked.

"I don't think so," the ranger said. "I mean, they could have. They both had cars, but if they did, they never stopped by to see us."

"Okay, and the last house in the middle belonged to the O'Malleys?" Rossi asked.

"Oh, him," the ranger said slowly. "Oh, he was a nice guy. Wasn't he Tony?"

Tony muttered some kind of response, but Hotch was more focused on the other ranger. "Was?"

"He died last year," the ranger continued. "Dude, that was sad. He threw these huge Christmas parties every year. He dressed up like Santa, and let all of the kids come see him. He always made sure every kid left with a special gift, and he made the best freaking cookies I ever tasted. I loved that guy. I mean, last Christmas was terrible without old Frank."

"When did he die?" Rossi asked.

"I think it was November," the ranger said. "I mean, I'll have to check my records. His daughter wrote me. She didn't want to disappoint any of the kids so she hired some guy to play Santa for the party and all that good stuff, but no one actually lives in that cabin anymore. The daughter just pays for the upkeep, but I don't think she's planning on selling it."

"And who were invited to these parties?" Hotch asked. It was making perfect sense to Hotch. The unsubs went to at least one of these Christmas parties, and saw the owner of the cabin was a little old man who only lived there during the winter. They may or may not have heard about his death, but it wouldn't take much effort for two young men to overpower someone like Frank.

"Anyone was welcome," the ranger said. "Me and Tony went a few times. It was a really popular party for people living in the surrounding neighborhoods. I mean, man, I was sad when I heard that guy died. My mom was even sad when I told her. Everyone loved O'Malley."

Hotch didn't care what else Garcia would be able to dig up on the guy, but Hotch wanted this cabin to be one of their first stops. "Do you have a floorplan of the cabin?"

"Printing it now," the ranger said. Hotch took the warm sheet of paper as soon as the printer was finished with it, and he handed it to Rossi.

"It's definitely big enough to hold 5 people hostage," Rossi said.

"That would be sick if people were getting murdered in Santa's house," the ranger said.

"How long of a drive is it to that cabin?" Hotch asked.

"About 20 minutes, give or take," the ranger said. "I know that murderers are basically like crazy, but I still don't think anyone could be cruel enough to kill in O'Malley's house."

Hotch wish he could agree with the kid, but he couldn't. After all this time, he still didn't know exactly the type of unsubs that he was dealing with, but he couldn't put it past them to murder in a kind man's cabin. As much as he wanted to literally run down to that cabin right then, he had to control himself. There was no actual evidence pointing to the unsubs hiding out in that cabin, and if he overreacted, that would alert the unsubs that the FBI was there. He couldn't just rush into things. He was thankful when he heard his phone ring from his pocket. That was a big enough distraction to stop him from acting irrationally.

"Hotch," he said into the phone.

"Sheriff Bolton," the older man replied. "I'm actually on my way over to you and your team right now."

"Did you get new information?" Hotch asked. Rossi stood up next to him to listen in on the conversation, and Prentiss kept her place by the map.

"Mysterious phone call," the sheriff said. "The operator was about to give it to an officer working on the field until she saw where the call came from. It was from one of those cabins out where you are."

Hotch's heart was pounding in chest. "Did they leave a message or anything? Was it a male or female calling?"

"She didn't know," Bolton said. "The caller never heard one word directed towards her, but she heard some kind of struggle take place right after the caller put the receiver down. There was screaming."

Hotch put his cell on speaker so the others could hear more clearly. "Was the operator able to trace to call to a particular cabin?" Hotch heard a noise outside, and when he looked out the window, he saw another car pull up beside his with a few officers inside. Everyone was following orders perfectly. No one came in a blaring cop car. The unsubs had no idea how close Hotch and his team really were. He needed to keep it that way.

"Yeah, I wrote down the address. It's 3332 W Oakwood," Bolton said. Prentiss immediately turned to pinpoint the address on the map, and Rossi was scanning down the list of addresses and names with his finger. "I'll be there in a few minutes, and don't worry. The sirens are off." He ended the call without another word.

"Do you know who owns that cabin?" Hotch asked Rossi. Rossi put the sheet back in front of Hotch, but kept his finger on one of the names.

"The Garland family," Rossi said. The ranger's mouth dropped open, and Tony actually stood up from behind his desk.

"Get me a layout of the cabin," Hotch said. The ranger nodded, and it only took seconds for the sheet to print up. It only had 3 bedrooms, but the rooms looked spacey.

"You don't think it was a prank call or anything?" the ranger asked. "I mean, I know the younger one of the daughters had a boyfriend and it's almost Valentine's Day. Maybe the phone got knocked off the hook during some weird sex game."

Hotch was thinking about getting the cell phone numbers of everyone in the Garland family, but he wasn't going to risk someone's phone ringing in that cabin. The only way to find out if Reid and Morgan were being held captive there was to literally drive over to the cabin. "Once the sheriff gets here, I think all of us should take a drive over to the Garland cabin."

* * *

Reid hurried out of the kitchen as fast he could when he heard someone yell out. Something had to have gone wrong. He just couldn't imagine what. Did Peter try for one of the doors? That seemed out of character for him, but he might have been desperate. "Peter?" Reid called out. He didn't get an answer. Of course he didn't answer. Reid carefully made his way down the hallway that Peter chose. He didn't hear Anthony or Michael, but he knew that they had to be nearby. He had no idea how much time they had left, but as soon as he found Peter, they were going back to the den. Reid didn't like how dark everything in the house was.

He was almost at the bedroom when he saw someone lying on the floor. He looked both ways, thinking it might be some elaborate trap, but it looked like he was alone. He quickened his pace towards the figure, and got down on his knees when he was close enough. He couldn't see the other guy's face, but the dirty blonde hair gave him away as Peter. "Peter? Are you okay?" Peter coughed in response. He couldn't just leave Peter lying there. He didn't know what was wrong with his friend, but Reid was going to help.

"Only have a few minutes left players of the game!" Anthony shouted from somewhere in the house. Reid didn't want to be found lingering in the rooms after the game was over. They needed to get back to the den. He picked up Peter's good arm, and put it around his shoulder. He took a deep breath, and slowly brought Peter to his feet. He wasn't supporting himself though. It was almost like a dead weight on Reid's skinny frame. They weren't going to make it back to the den before time was up. Reid spotted the bathroom, and he made his way inside. He gently released Peter's arm, and the kid gently fell against the bathroom cabinets. Reid went back to lock the door. That wasn't going to keep Michael and Anthony out, but it might give Reid more time to analyze the situation.

"Just kill me," Peter whispered. "I'd rather you do it than them." He coughed again, and weakly brought his hand up to his bleeding stomach. In his other hand he held a kitchen knife.

Reid turned on the lights, and got down next to Peter to see the damage. It was a lot to take in, and with all of the blood, it was hard to pinpoint where exactly it started. Reid grabbed a dozen sheets of toilet paper, and tried his best to wipe away the blood. Right away, Reid noticed a deep stab wound just underneath his rib cage. Dark blood was seeping out through the edges of the torn flesh, and Peter's body was just shaking. Reid found 2 more stab wounds across the boy's stomach, and when Reid looked even lower, he was shaken to find Peter's boxers just drenched with blood. That blood couldn't have come from one of the other wounds. Reid wasn't sure that he wanted to know what was done to Peter below the belt.

"It's going to be alright," Reid said with no confidence in his voice. "Once we get back to Morgan, we can get the bleeding under control." He firmly pressed down on the wound underneath the ribcage, but he couldn't get to the other wounds. People only needed to lose 2 pints of blood before going into shock, and it was clear that Peter was past that point. It wouldn't take much more blood loss to kill him.

Peter didn't say anything, but he coughed again. A thin trail of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth with the cough, and Reid felt like screaming. "Who did this to you? Anthony?"

"It was..a lady," Peter whispered. He took a deep breath, but it was jagged. What was Reid supposed to do?

"Down to your last 2 minutes my friends," Anthony shouted. "You better believe that Michael and I are more than ready to meet the winner of this wonderful game."

Reid glanced at the door, but it was still locked. He needed to get Peter back in the den. He tried putting the boy's arm over his shoulder again, but Peter couldn't support his own weight at all. He fell back down with a pained grunt, and Reid sat down next to him. Reid couldn't hear cars moving around outside, and the doorbell never rang again. He trusted that Hotch and the others would be there soon, but Peter didn't have soon. All he had was now, but that was fading fast. Reid couldn't predict what would happen to Peter if Anthony found him, but he did know that Anthony would do his best to only make it worse for Peter.

"Try not to cough," Reid said. Peter nodded, but Reid wasn't even sure Peter was listening. His mouth was open to help him breathe, but he wasn't taking deep breaths. They were short, but even those short breaths were enough to trigger even more blood to come out of his mouth. He was dying, and Reid felt like screaming.

"Last minute!" Anthony shouted.

"Please don't ask me to do this," Reid begged. Peter closed his mouth to prevent another cough, and his eyes found Reid's eyes. Just for a few seconds, it was just them in this world. There weren't any unsubs and Morgan wasn't locked in another room. It was just Peter and Reid, and everything was calm in the world. That feeling didn't last long enough when another cough that Peter couldn't prevent broke the eye contact. Peter was either going to die now, or he was going to bleed to death in that den. Reid carefully took the knife from Peter's hand, and held it up for the boy to see.

"Just tell my parents," Peter tried his best to take a deep breath, but he couldn't. "And Clara. I love them. Thank you." Peter looked like he wanted to add more, but he didn't. He closed his eyes, and leaned his head back giving Reid better access to his throat.

Reid put the blade against one end of Peter's throat. "Thirty seconds boys!" Reid didn't turn to look at the door. It was now or never. He pressed the blade down, and slid it across Peter's neck as fast as he could. Blood squirted out, and Peter's mouth opened wide in an attempt to take another breath. Reid heard some kind of gurgling sound coming from Peter's throat, and the kid's right leg jerked a little, but it was over. Peter's head fell to his left shoulder. His eyes and mouth were still open, but he was gone. His eyes couldn't see Reid anymore, and even though his body was still bleeding profusely, Peter couldn't feel the pain.

Acting quickly, he stuck the knife that killed Peter underneath the sink in stacks of toilet paper rolls. He didn't think Anthony would bother looking there. He shut it quietly, and went back over to Peter. He didn't even jump when Anthony kicked the door in. He was back at work trying to wipe the blood off of Peter's stomach when Anthony and Michael came in the room.

"Funny we should find you guys in here," Anthony said with a wide smile. "Did you guys want another bath? Was that it? I'm sure Michael wouldn't mind much." Anthony took a step forward, and that's when he saw what happened to Peter. He didn't look shocked or upset. He started laughing. He shared a high five with Michael, and got down on his knees for a better look. "Why did you kill him Agent Reid? Didn't like his hair? Or was he getting too close to Agent Morgan? Was that it? Not going to lie though. This was the first time ever that the players killed each other. I'm gonna have to write this down somewhere."

"A lady killed him," Reid said. "From the bedroom."

The smirk wiped off Anthony's face instantly. He stepped back to Michael, and slapped Michael in the back. "Would you mind escorting Agent Reid back to the den? We have some work to do, and I'm not quite ready to finish the night."

Michael shrugged, but stepped forward to help Reid to his feet. Once Reid found his balance, he didn't need Michael's support anymore. Michael waited for Reid to start moving so he could be behind him. Reid got to the door when he turned around. He didn't know what Anthony was planning on doing with Peter's body, but Reid didn't really want them burying the kid. Peter deserved to go back home with his family that very day. Reid felt like puking when he was pushed back into the den. How was he supposed to tell Morgan what happened when he wasn't even sure what happened? It all felt like some terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake up from no matter how hard he tried.

 _yay for chapter 9! super sad chapter. I loved peter. he was probably one of my favorite original characters from my stories, but all is fair in love and war I guess. don't forget to review tho guys. I live for my reviews. till next time! xoxoxoxo_


	10. Chapter 10

_feels like this story is sadly coming to an end. I hate it when my stories end cause I just love writing them and escaping to the imaginary world that my stories offer me. oh well. all good things must come to an end. so without anymore delay, I present to you all, chapter 10_

Morgan couldn't concentrate on anything. He didn't have a good view of the window from behind the couch, but he was too nervous to try messing with the window anymore. It felt like their only hope was the team finding them or if one of the boys found a damn telephone. He couldn't hear much from where he was sitting, but he did hear every single one of Anthony's threats during the count down. He hated being able to hear Anthony so clearly, but there wasn't one peep coming from Peter or Reid. He thought the boys would come right back to the den after they found a phone, but it didn't sound like anyone was coming. He was in there all alone. J.J.'s voice did offer him some comfort though. He liked knowing that his team was close.

"I'm just now hearing that the Boyle family is offering a large reward for the safe return of their son," J.J. said. She stepped aside, and let Mr. Boyle stand next to her. His eyes were red from crying. His wife and daughter chose to stay back behind J.J., but they never left the scene. "The reward is a hundred thousand dollars."

"There won't be any questions asked," Boyle said. "Just please. Bring my son home. The reward is ready to go. Please contact us to organize the drop off location. Please. He's my only son."

Morgan looked away. He could work in the FBI for the rest of his life, but he would never get used to grieving parents. When they got out of there though, he would personally tell Mr. Boyle about how brave his son was tonight. They couldn't have done this without Peter's help. Morgan was even thinking about helping the kid get through college. From what Morgan gathered, the Boyle family wasn't wealthy and Peter did deserve something for helping them out so much.

The minutes dragged on like hours when he was by himself. He adjusted the book keeping his arm straight, and tried cleaning off the dried blood to help the time pass. He was even trying to think of others plans in case the boys couldn't find a telephone. They needed a backup plan. They didn't have any weapons, but Morgan was sure he could come up with something if he concentrated hard enough. That was the problem though. He couldn't concentrate. He was becoming a nervous wreck trying to figure out why Reid and Peter weren't back yet. He heard Anthony shout the one minute mark, but Morgan still didn't hear footsteps coming his way. It didn't make any sense.

He scooted closer to the stairs after he counted past 60 seconds and he waited. He waited and he waited. He was almost at the third minute marker from Anthony's shout when the door was pushed open. Morgan held his breath when Michael shoved Reid inside. Reid kept his balance as he got to the first step, but his ankle twisted when he tried for the second step. He landed on his knees with a loud thump, and Michael locked the door behind him when Reid lifted up his head. The boy genius looked like a wreck. Morgan swore that there was more blood on Reid's hands than when the kid left, and his big eyes looked full with tears. Reid took a deep breath, and crawled over to sit next Morgan.

"Did they hurt you?" Morgan asked. Morgan couldn't spot any new cuts or bruises, but those sickos could have raped him again. Morgan's blood was boiling just thinking about it.

"I'm fine," Reid said. His voice was cracking, and he was looking everywhere but at Morgan. Whatever happened out there wasn't just fine.

"It's okay if you couldn't find a phone," Morgan said slowly. That might have been why Reid was about to start crying. He couldn't find the damned phone.

"No," Reid started, but he couldn't finish that thought. Anthony opened the door wide to their little hell, and threw what looked like Peter across the floor. Peter landed on his back, and the first thing that caught Morgan's eye was all of the blood. There was too much blood.

"Getting really sick of you people," Anthony said. He slammed the door shut, and Morgan heard it lock behind him. Morgan didn't care about where Anthony or his little puppet went. All that mattered was getting over to Peter.

Morgan crawled as fast as his good limbs would allow, and when he finally reached Peter, he tried cleaning off the blood with his own hands while searching for the entry wound. Morgan didn't hear a gun go off so whoever attacked Peter had to do with a knife to cause this amount of blood loss. Morgan found a deep wound just underneath Peter's ribcage. The blood was warm, and Morgan started applying pressure to it immediately. "Peter, can you hear me? Stay with us kid. It's going to be alright."

"He's dead," Reid whispered. Morgan didn't pay attention to Reid. Help was so close. He could almost taste it. He wasn't going to let Peter die when they were so close.

"Come on Peter," Morgan said. Morgan was starting chest compressions since Peter didn't look like he was breathing, and that's when Morgan noticed the blood soaked boxers. It wasn't just a spot of blood or a trail coming from the rape. What was left of the boxer shorts was literally dripping in dark blood. Morgan stopped doing the compressions when he saw the slash across the boy's throat. It didn't look like a clean cut, but the job was done. Peter was dead. Peter's eyes were still open, and the blood still dripping from his mouth was starting to stain the carpet. Morgan sat down next to the body and slammed a fist into the ground.

"I cut his throat," Reid said after a moment of silence. "I found him like that near the bedroom, and he was begging me to just kill him. He didn't want Anthony or Michael hurting him even more. I didn't want to, but then I heard Anthony coming and I couldn't pick him up." A tear ran down Reid's cheek. "I tried lifting him up, and he just fell back down. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I would have done the same thing," Morgan said. He closed Peter's green eyes for the last time, and started looking over the injuries. Only a coroner would have really known how long Peter could have lasted with those injuries, but it couldn't have been long. Morgan was positive that the stab underneath the ribcage pierced one of his lungs. That explained the blood around the poor kid's mouth. He would have had trouble breathing with an injury like that, and the other 2 entry marks on his stomach didn't look like superficial wounds either. The stab marks were fatal to the kid. He would have died from blood loss long before the night was over. The attack on Peter's manhood still scared Morgan the most. That one had to have hurt the worst. Morgan couldn't tell if the member was actually cut off the poor boy or not, but he didn't want to know. Peter put those boxers back on himself, and they were going to stay that way. Morgan couldn't help but feel guilty too. How many times had Peter asked him to stay behind? Peter was almost begging them to let him stay in their prison during Michael's game, and Morgan kept promising the boy that nothing was going to happen. Morgan felt sick to his stomach.

"This is my fault," Morgan said quietly. "Peter didn't want to go. He didn't want to play the game, but I kept telling him it was going to be alright. If I had listened to the kid, he'd still be alive right now." Their entire situation was dangerous, but Peter was so afraid to leave the room to find the phone. Maybe the kid had some sixth sense with what was about to happen. That didn't make him feel any better. Even if Peter was able to accurately predict the attack that killed him, it was still Morgan's responsibility to keep the boy safe and he failed.

"No," Reid said. "The only one who is at fault is the person who stabbed him." Reid was still sitting by the couch, but he was crying. In a lot of ways, this was even worse than the rape. Morgan and Reid both liked Peter. Morgan would even venture as far as to call the kid a new friend. They had been through so much together, and Peter deserved as much credit as the agents with his efforts to help them escape. Morgan tried cleaning more blood off of the boy, and Morgan noticed the bandages covering up his own injuries. A good portion of the cloths used on him came from the dead boy's torn up boxers. Morgan felt sick.

"Who did this to him?" Morgan asked. "Was it Michael?" The younger of their captors was the one that raped Peter. The stabbing between Peter's legs was one of the worst injuries. It made sense that Michael would attack Peter there from sexual frustration.

"No," Reid said. Tears were running down Reid's face. "Peter said, he said it a woman." Reid wiped the tears away, but new ones only replaced the old ones. "I'm so sorry. I really am." The boy genius was trembling again, and Morgan was sure it wasn't from the cold this time.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Morgan assured him. "Peter couldn't have survived long with these injuries. The one by the ribcage was fatal Reid. You did what he asked you to." Morgan wanted to move Peter's body away from the door. He wasn't going to put it past Anthony or Michael to not disturb the body if it was in their sight. He thought putting Peter near the window would be the best bet, but there was no way for Morgan to move the body. He couldn't even try, and he didn't think Reid was strong enough to do it by himself. Peter was going to have to wait. "What woman though? Do you think he was getting delirious when he told you that? There's no women here."

"He was going into Hypovolemic shock," Reid said. "His skin was getting cold and clammy, and he couldn't take deep breaths so it's possible that he didn't know what he was saying. I didn't ask any details. Every time he tried to talk, more blood came out of his mouth. I couldn't ask him anything else. I tried so hard to stop the bleeding."

Morgan put Peter's hands on his stomach, and scooted back to be with Reid. There was nothing more they could do for Peter, but Morgan vowed that he was going to keep his promise to the kid. When Reid and Morgan left, Peter was still going with them. In his delirious state, Peter probably just mistook one of their captors as a female. He was sure that was common, but his bet was still on Michael as being the one who murdered the poor kid. Reid put his head on Morgan's shoulder, and he let his tears run free. Morgan pulled Reid close to him with his good arm, but he wasn't calm in that single moment of peace. Fear was always running through the back of his mind of when Anthony and Michael were coming back and what they would do when they got back. A woman screaming brought Reid's tears to a sudden stop, and Morgan was able to pull Peter's body out of the way just as the door opened. A woman was thrown inside the den with them, and the door was once again, shut and locked.

* * *

J.J. kept her phone on loud for any phone calls from Hotch or maybe even another witness who was watching their conference on the television, but she wasn't getting any calls. Not a single call all night long. A few reporters were lingering on waiting for some breaking news that they would be able to talk about, but most had gone home. When J.J. went back inside the dance studio, she found the Boyle family resting in the office. Little Clara had fallen asleep with her head on one of the tables, and her mother's eyes were only half open. J.J. sat down next to them, and sipped some of her cold coffee. It was going to be a long night still. J.J. didn't mind if the parents were awake enough to stay the rest of the night with her, but it wasn't fair to ask that of the child. She already talked to the media once. She needed to go to bed.

"If you guys want to go home and sleep for a little bit, that's fine," J.J. said motioning towards Clara. The little girl stirred at the mention of her name, but she didn't get up.

"I'm staying," Boyle said firmly. "I need to be here when Peter is found. He's probably going to be scared and needs to see a familiar face. If one of those guys call, I have to be ready when the ransom money too. She's right though honey. You should take Clara home."

Clara lifted up her head when she heard her father's voice. "Dad? I don't want to go home. I'm not even tired. I want to stay here with you. Petey's going to want to see me too."

"Daddy's right Clara," Mrs. Boyle said standing up. "We can come back first thing in the morning, but I'm sure Peter will be home by then." She brushed her light brown off her shoulder, and helped her daughter get to her feet. Peter was almost the spitting image of his mother. Clara looked more like their father, but all of them were exhausted. "I'll take a shower and take a nap for a few hours, but call me the second you hear anything. My phone will be on."

Boyle stood up and kissed his wife. "You know I will. When you guys come back, would you mind bringing my phone charger? If it dies before you get back, I'm sure I can just borrow someone's phone here."

"Daddy?" Clara asked. Mr. Boyle walked over to where she was standing and pulled up a chair next to her so he was more her level.

"What is it pumpkin pie?" Boyle asked.

"If you find Petey while I'm sleeping, can you tell him he won't have to take me to dance class anymore? I'll just ride with Jane. I don't think her mom would mind since we live so close."

Boyle kissed his daughter on the forehead and smiled. "I think I'll be taking you myself from now on. I probably should have been doing that from the first place and we wouldn't be in this little jam now. Would we?"

He kissed his wife again, and he stood next to J.J. while they left the studio. J.J. didn't think the wife was going to get much sleep. She probably wouldn't even be able to close her eyes till her family was together again. J.J. was happy to see them sticking together though. She met so many couples that drifted apart the second something went wrong. No matter what they would find at those cabins, Boyle and his wife were going to stay together.

"Will I be seeing my son tonight agent?" Boyle asked as soon as his wife's car was out of sight.

"We are trying our best sir," J.J. said. "If they find anything in those cabins, we'll be the first ones to know." J.J. led the way back inside, and walked back over to the coffee machine. She needed to make more. She was sure that she would be able to stay awake from her nerves alone, but she felt like she should be doing something. She was the only one not at the cabins. Hotch told her to stay back here, but she felt terrible. She wanted to be there too.

"Why didn't you mention that a couple of your agents were missing too?" Boyle asked. "I mean, wouldn't that help you find them better? If the public thought some FBI people were missing too, they might try looking even harder to find these creeps."

"We don't know how much the unsubs know about the kidnapped victims," J.J. said. "That could go badly for all of them if they find out Morgan and Reid are with the FBI. It's better that they don't know." J.J. didn't have any idea if Morgan and Reid were using fake names or if the unsubs already found out who they were, but she wasn't about to tell the reporters anything. She turned around to go back into the dance studio since it was a chilly night when she saw the sheriff hurrying to his car. That could only meant he had news. She nodded at Boyle and ran after the sheriff.

"What happened?" J.J. asked when she was close enough. Boyle was right behind her. He was anxious for news of his son. The sheriff tossed his hat in the backseat of his car, and turned around to face them.

The sheriff cleared his throat, and glanced around to make sure no nosy reporters spotted them. J.J. already checked that though. They were alone. "Call came in a few minutes ago from one of the cabins. Don't know which one, but the operator thought it was best to inform me of the call instead of sending out another officer."

"Was it my son?" Boyle asked. He took a step forward so he was next to J.J.

"She told us that the caller never spoke to her directly," the sheriff said. "So we don't know if it was one of the victims that called, but she said she could hear screaming in the background. I'm on my way to the cabins right now. Would you like to ride with me agent?"

J.J. could barely contain her excitement. She knew one of the guys was going to call. They just had to wait for a chance to be alone or sneak away from the unsubs, but she knew it. That meant they were alive. She felt bad for leaving Boyle, but she needed to help. She turned around to the grieving father and took his hands in hers. "I promise I'll keep you updated with any information. Just wait her. Okay?"

He nodded his head. "Guess I don't have a choice. Just call me when you find my son."

She hugged him goodbye, and hopped in the passenger seat of the sheriff's car. The sheriff turned the heat on full blast, and J.J. pulled her phone out. "Already told Agent Hotchner," he said. "They are waiting for us, but at this time of day, there won't be many people on the road. We should be there in no time."

"Okay," J.J. said. She didn't want him to speed especially this late at night in the middle of the woods. She had her seatbelt on though, and she didn't feel that he was going to do anything stupid. She texted Hotch that they were on their way. She knew he was going to wait until she got there, but she was worried about how much time Morgan and Reid had left. The unsubs weren't going to wait until she got there.

* * *

The woman thrown into their prison room was screaming at the top of her lungs. She fell on her knees near Peter, and crawled as fast as she could to the bookcase. She kept her knees up by her chest, and Morgan noted the bruises on her legs. Her blonde hair was kept in a messy pony tail, and the only thing their captors allowed her to keep on was her bra and underwear. She was probably another victim of rape, and before her knees covered her up, Morgan could just see bloody marks over her stomach. Morgan couldn't figure out why this was the first time during the long night that he saw her, but here she was. Peter was right. It was a woman that stabbed him, but it wasn't another unsub. She was clearly another victim, and she was in better shape than the rest of them. She could still walk just fine, and Morgan didn't see blood on her hands or arms. Peter never would have stood a chance against her. It made Morgan sick just to think about the terror that poor kid must have felt in his final moments. Reid didn't move from his spot next to Peter, but the door was locked again. Morgan didn't know what the unsubs were doing, but they weren't in the den.

"I'm sorry!" the woman was screaming. "Please, don't hurt me. I'll do whatever you want. Just please. Don't hurt me. I'm sorry." She was hiding her head from them in the fetal position, and Morgan glanced at Reid. There was sadness hiding in his big eyes. He licked his lips nervously, and scooted a little bit forward from the couch.

"We're not going to hurt you," Reid said as loudly as he could so he was heard above her screaming. His voice was cracking, but he got her attention. She lifted up her head and looked towards them. Morgan imagined it was a sight to see. "My name is Doctor Spencer Reid, and this is Derek Morgan. We work for the FBI."

She sniffled, and wiped a hand over her eyes to dry off the tears. "FBI? Then…You're not here to rescue me. You guys were abducted too?"

"Yes," Morgan said. "But we have a team, and they are coming for us. They will be here soon. Are you hurt?"

The woman shook her head no, and she got out of her fetal position by the bookcase. She must have believed what Morgan and Reid told her because she got on her knees, and scooted over so she could be closer to them. "I didn't think anyone else was here except for me and Tati."

"Are you Jenny Parker?" Reid asked her. Morgan remembered hearing that name mentioned on the news next to Nelson and Boyle's names.

"Yes," she said sniffling again. "How do you know my name? Were you guys here like the entire time? I didn't see," Parker cut herself off when she saw the body on the ground. Her jaw dropped open as her eyes went over his bloodied body, and then she looked back up at Morgan. "Oh my God. Was he with you guys? Oh my God. I thought he was with the other guys. Like, I didn't recognize him, but his hair is kinda the same color as the other guy's hair and oh my God. Did I kill him? I'm so sorry. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

"It's alright," Morgan said. "It's over now."

"I didn't do that thing to his throat," she said as fast as she could. "I did the other stuff. I mean, like the stabbing stuff, but I didn't do that to his throat. Oh my God. Was he like 16 years old or something? I killed a kid? Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I thought he was with them or something. I'm so sorry."

"What happened to him?" Reid asked. "Were you hiding and attacked him when he came in the room or something?"

"No," Jenny said wiping away at new tears. "I heard someone trying to come in so I played dead. I found a knife under Tati's mattress. She liked to hide stuff there, and she always felt safer with like a secret weapon when she was out here alone. I don't know what the kid was doing. He went over to the nightstand and was rustling stuff around. I don't know, but when he was coming back, that's when I stabbed him. I really thought he was one of the bad guys. I couldn't see his face that well, but yeah. I thought it was weird he was only wearing the boxers, but I thought maybe he was going to do stuff to me. Like the other guy did. And when he took my knife and left, I knew they were going to come back and kill me. I thought me and Tati were the only ones here…" She scooted further back like she was afraid of the body. Morgan was never afraid of the dead. The dead couldn't hurt anyone. Peter never hurt anyone even when he was alive. Morgan was never going to forgive himself. "What was his name?"

"Peter," Reid said. "Could you help me with something?"

"Yeah, sure, anything," Jenny said. Morgan noticed she was avoided looking at Peter.

"Can you help me move him near the window?" Reid asked. "I don't want Anthony or Michael doing anything to his body. If he's out of the way, they probably won't notice him. I would do it myself, but I don't think I could make it to the window by myself. I need help."

Jenny looked at Morgan like she wanted to suggest him helping out, but she saw his leg and the splint on his arm. "I don't really want to touch him. I mean, I can't. I can't help."

"Please," Reid begged. His voice was cracking again, and Morgan's heart went out to the boy genius. He went through so much already, and it still wasn't over. Morgan didn't know what the rest of the night would hold for them, but Reid couldn't handle much more.

"Reid could hold Peter's head," Morgan said gently. "You would just need to pick up his feet and legs. It's only a few steps away."

She looked at Peter's pale feet and legs. She looked away like she was going to start throwing up, but she kept her mouth shut. When she looked back at Morgan and Reid, she nodded her head slowly. "Okay. I can. Is there a blanket or something we can wrap his legs in so I don't have to touch him? I'm going to freak out. I'm really sorry, but I think I will."

Morgan was becoming annoyed with this woman. He knew the general public wasn't used to dealing with bodies and women probably were more fearful of them because of zombie movies or something, but this was ridiculous. Peter wasn't some random corpse. He was a college student who was murdered by the woman sitting in front of them. He deserved respect.

"There's no blankets or sheets here," Morgan said. He didn't mean to sound harsh to the woman, but he was feeling stressed out. She wasn't the only victim here. "We don't even have cushions on the couch anymore. If you really wanted to, I'm sure you can just take his boxers off and wrap his feet in those so you don't have to touch him. I mean, there's not a lot left of the boxers because he was using them as bandages for the rest of us, but there might be enough to keep your hands clean. Then we might be able to see what kind of damage was done down there."

Reid didn't scold him for the outburst. Reid was holding Peter's hand now, waiting for Jenny's response. She looked down for a few minutes. She wasn't going to face any charges for what happened to Peter, but Morgan was never going to look at her the same way again if she couldn't help move the poor kid next to the window. She eventually scooted over to where they were, and Morgan was getting angry when he saw her looking at the torn underpants. Was she actually thinking about taking them off Peter? Morgan was going to tell her to just forget it when she put her hands around Peter's ankles.

"Okay," she said. "I'm ready." Reid looked surprised, but he didn't say anything. He moved in front of Peter, and carefully put his hands underneath Peter's shoulders. He got on his feet, and on the count of three, both of them stood up with Peter being held between them. Jenny refused to look at the body, but that didn't matter. She was helping. She walked backwards, and Reid kept the watch to make sure she didn't trip over anything. Morgan was right though. It was only a few steps away. They circled around the couch with ease, and Reid told her to stop right by the window. They lowered his body to the carpet by the window, and his body was gently set down. Jenny took several steps back as soon as his feet were out of her hands, but Reid sat with him.

"Thank you," Reid said. Reid put his back against the window. Reid wasn't planning on moving from Peter anytime soon.

"How did you get here?" Morgan asked to change the subject. If they kept talking about Peter, he was going to feel worse than he already did. Jenny sat back down next to the bookcase, and pulled out the book closest to her. "You knew Tatiana?"

"Yeah," she said. "We've been coworkers since she was in high school. She was homeschooled until she got to college so the job was like the first time she actually got to get out of the house and meet other people. She was super shy forever, but we became like best friends. And she just started dating this guy a few months ago, and she invited him to the cabin for Valentine's Day. She invited me over to do her make up since I'm really good at it."

"So her parents or siblings have no idea she's even here?" Reid asked.

"Her sister might know," Jenny said. "Like they are really close. Closer than most. But I don't know. She didn't mention her sister coming to check on her or anything."

"Were the unsubs here when you guys got here?" Morgan asked her. She gave him a confused look. They usually did. "Unknown subjects. The bad guys. Were they hiding in the cabin?"

"Um, no," she said thinking back. Morgan was barely paying attention. He was on edge waiting for the unsubs to come back. He knew they weren't going to stay gone for much longer. "I was just starting her makeup and the doorbell rang so she went to go answer it. It was too early for the guy so I just waited for her. But she didn't come back. One of the guys, the blonde ass, found me waiting for her in the bedroom. He brought me to the den where Tati was, and they did stuff to us. A lot of stuff, but then they separated us. They brought me to Tati's bedroom, and they tried to kill me I think. So I pretended to be dead. And that's where your friend, Peter, found me. I haven't seen Tatiana since. Did you guys see her in here?"

"Yes," Morgan said. "We never got to talk to her though. She was dead when we got here."

Jenny put her hand over her mouth and looked at her feet. "How? Never mind, don't tell me. Where is she now? I don't see her in here."

"They unsubs bury most of their victims," Reid said. "None of us saw what they did, but they told us she's buried in the backyard. I don't think they were making that up."

Jenny nodded. "And was it just you guys then here?"

"There was another woman too," Morgan said. "She was shot in the head playing some stupid game. They put her in the backyard too. That's part of their rituals. They wear those gloves to hide their fingerprints and get rid of the bodies after the murders." Morgan knew that when they did come back, they were probably going to get rid of Peter's body, but Morgan wasn't going to tell Reid that. He was sure the boy genius already knew, but if by some miracle the body was left alone, Morgan would make sure he was brought back home to his parents. He looked over at the television again, but it was just previous recorded footage playing. He hadn't seen J.J. talk to the reporters since before Reid and Peter played the game. "Reid."

The baby of their team lifted his head towards Morgan. He was sick, and Morgan didn't think he had ever seen anything sadder than an extremely pale Reid sitting next to his dead friend. Morgan's heart sunk. "I haven't seen J.J. on the news for a while. Or anyone on the team. Since before you guys left."

Reid looked over at the television, and Morgan could just see some spark coming back in his big eyes. "They found us?"

"Jenny, after Peter left the nightstand in the room, did you hear any little noises or anything? Like maybe it sounded like a radio or someone talking far away?" Morgan asked her.

She closed her eyes, thinking back. Relief flooded over Morgan when she nodded her head. "Yeah, I thought it was a television on in another room which was funny cause they never played it before. It didn't last long. When I was alone again, I think I only heard like one more thing and it stopped. Why?"

"Peter got to the phone," Reid said smiling weakly. Morgan was smiling too, and hit his fist against the floor. Morgan could barely believe it, but the timing worked out perfectly. Peter called the police, and that's why J.J. was gone. J.J. wouldn't have just left the studio if the team didn't know where Morgan and Reid were. They were going to be rescued. "Thank you," Reid whispered to Peter. "Thank you so much."

"Your team is coming?" Jenny asked. She was looking over at the television too, but she hadn't seen any of the earlier broadcasts. All of it was still new to her. She probably had no idea they were even on the news.

"Yes," Morgan said confidently. He felt ecstatic. This nightmare was finally over. They would be home soon. Reid was still smiling, and even Jenny's mood seemed brighter. Morgan was already thinking about getting a hot chocolate after the doctors finished fixing him up. He wouldn't have to stay overnight at the hospital. His wounds didn't feel that severe, but only a doctor would know. He was sure Garcia was worried sick about him. He was going to have to hug her first. He didn't like to think about how worried she was. He knew she was sitting in front of some computer trying her hardest to bring them home. She was just as involved as the rest of the team in finding these unsubs and bringing Reid and Morgan home. He owed her his life.

When they heard the door opening, Reid finally left Peter. The baby of the team didn't look like he really wanted to leave Peter, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted Peter to remain invisible to their captors. Reid sat next to Morgan against the couch, and Jenny took her spot besides Morgan. He already missed Peter. He didn't know Jenny, and he wasn't confident that she was going to be a team player like Peter was. The team was on their way, but all of them would be dead in less than a minute if something went wrong with Anthony or Michael. Jenny needed to be on the same page as Morgan and Reid. Anthony led the way in, but Michael was right behind him. Like always. Michael was back to eating another corndog. Ketchup was dripping from the corners of his mouth which was another grim reminder of what happened to Peter. Anthony kept his hands behind his back.

"Well, that was fun. Wasn't it?" Anthony asked. "We got one more down, but looks like another player joined your team. I guess we can count Peter as the winner of the last game. Sound fair?"

No one said anything. Morgan wasn't going to do one little thing to screw up their chance at rescue. The team was probably almost there. They just needed to hold out a little bit longer.

"I'm sorry to say though that our time is running short," Anthony continued. "I am aware that none of you poor souls have access to a clock, but it's only a few short hours until dawn. If we don't speed up here, I do believe me and Michael will lose our bet. And we never lose. Have we ever lost Michael?"

We have never lost a bet Anthony," Michael said agreeing. He took another bite of his food, and Morgan's stomach turned.

"And in case you all forgot, the bet was that none of you will be alive by the morning," Anthony said with the upmost confidence. Peter was right. By this point, there was nothing in the world stopping them from just shooting Morgan and the others in the head and be done with it. Morgan didn't think they would, but there was always that nagging voice in the back of his mind saying that they could just do that. That scared Morgan.

"What do you want man?" Morgan asked. He needed all attention to be on him. He wasn't going to let Reid get hurt again. He wasn't stupid. He knew Anthony and Michael weren't going to leave until more blood was shed. He just had to make sure it was his blood.

"Hold out your other arm, Agent Morgan," Anthony said smiling. He pulled the silver crowbar out from behind his back, and positioned it over his shoulder like a baseball bat. They wanted to break his other arm? The first arm still hurt like hell, and every time he moved his leg, a burning sensation traveled up his system.

He wasn't afraid of Anthony though. Anthony was a brat who was going to be put in his place soon enough. Morgan was going to personally make sure that Michael was served corndogs at every meal since he liked them so much. They weren't going to get away with any of this crap. Morgan held out his arm, but he wouldn't look away. He was going to look Anthony right in the eye as the ass broke his other arm. Anthony raised the bar up for the strike, but as the bar came back down towards him arm, Morgan was pushed out of the way. He fell on his shoulder, and grunted in pain as his broken arm shifted from the book holding it in place. A wave of dizziness passed over him, but it didn't last long. Reid's hoarse scream brought him back to a reality he wasn't ready to face.

Morgan turned around, and saw Reid lying on the floor cradling his own arm. A black bruise was spreading underneath the kid's shoulder, and Jenny was already scooting out of the way. Anthony was laughing like he was having the time of his life. "You seriously can't plan things like this. Isn't how wonderful how stuff like this just happens? I mean, here I am planning a fun attack on Agent Morgan and then Agent Reid volunteers himself."

"That is pretty funny Anthony," Michael said. He finished his corn dog with one big bite, and threw the stick on top of Reid. Reid, keeping his hand on his bruised arm, turned his back towards his attackers. Jenny was almost on the other side of the couch, and before Morgan could even straighten himself out, Anthony slammed the crowbar on Reid's shoulder blades. Reid let out a deafening scream, and Morgan swore that he heard something inside of the boy genius just snap. Reid curled himself into a ball, and Morgan ignored the throbbing pain coming from his own arm to get to his friend, but Anthony wouldn't wait. He came right back down on the baby of the team with the crowbar again, and this time, the deadly weapon collided with Reid's hip bone. Reid's agonizing scream filled the room until his already hoarse voice gave out.

"Think we should take off his underwear?" Anthony asked. "Pretty sure he isn't going to need them anymore. We might be able to donate it to charity if we can get the blood off it." Anthony swung the crowbar once again on the boy genius' back, but this time, Reid didn't scream.

"Stop it!" Morgan yelled at them. They weren't going to listen, but that did distract them enough to lay off the crowbar for a minute. Morgan got himself on his hip, and dragged himself over to where the boy genius laid in a fetal position.

"Agent Morgan, that's against the rules," Anthony told him in a sing songy voice. Morgan didn't care. He shielded Reid with his own body the very best he could. "I take back the underwear donation idea. I didn't see how ripped up it was. It's not really even covering him up. Oh well."

"Fuck you and your rules!" Morgan said.

Morgan didn't see Michael draw the gun out from his jeans, and he didn't see Michael inch closer and closer to where Morgan was trying to hide Reid. He didn't see the ass until Michael had the gun raised up at the both of them. When the gun fired, it was almost like slow motion. Morgan saw it go off, and he turned as fast as he could back towards the boy genius. He closed his eyes, preparing for the bullet, but he was never hit. Morgan waited almost a full minute, but he never felt any pain. He didn't feel any blood coming out or even so much as a tickle against his skin. When he finally opened his eyes, Reid's head was completely on the carpet with what looked like dark blood coming out from his head. Morgan's mouth dropped open, and he struggled to lift Reid's head to see where the kid got hit. He could barely hear anything and the world around him was spinning, but Reid needed him. Badly.

"What did you do that for?" Anthony asked. Anthony threw the bloody crowbar against the staircase and plopped himself on the couch to get a better view of Reid's injuries. No matter what Morgan did, Reid wasn't moving. Morgan carefully turned Reid so he could see his face, but Reid didn't move. It didn't even look like he was breathing.

"Entertainment," Michael said with the biggest smile on his face. "We should bury him in the yard though. He's dead." Anthony bent down so close to Morgan and Reid that Morgan could smell his breath.

"You're right," Anthony said. "He is deader than dead. We can put him next to the girls."

Morgan didn't know if Reid was dead or not, but Morgan wasn't going to let those assholes touch Reid. Morgan put his good arm over Reid, and got as close to Reid as he could physically get. "Don't worry Reid. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Reid made no response, but his body felt cold to the touch. Reid couldn't be dead. He had to be faking it, but there was no denying the blood on the carpet was coming from Reid.

* * *

Hotch hated the waiting. They knew where Morgan and Reid were, but they had to wait for a plan or everything that could go wrong would go wrong. There wasn't any time for mistakes. They had been gone for so long already, and time still wasn't on their side. It was hard to pay attention to the details the park ranger was telling them. Hotch already had the floorplan of the house memorized, and there was only three doors leading outside from the cabin. Hotch wanted the cabin completely surrounded with his agents and the police at every single exit so they could catch the unsubs before they could flee. With any luck, they would have the element of surprise. There wasn't going to be any blaring sirens or shouting cops. It was going to be quiet so they could catch the unsubs off guard.

"The bad guys here aren't going to come into custody willingly. Are they?" Calvin asked. Calvin zipped up his jacket the rest of the way, and was putting gloves on. It was a chilly night.

"Probably not," Rossi said. "But let us handle them. Your main focus is getting all the captives in there to safety." Hotch heard a car drive up outside, and was relieved when he saw J.J. and the sheriff getting out. As soon as J.J. was caught up with the floorplans of the cabin, they were heading out.

Hotch stood in front of the group gathered together as soon as J.J. found a seat. The group wasn't large by any means. Hotch counted three officers besides the sheriff, the two park rangers sat behind their desks, and Hotch's team were scattered about the room. None of them looked tired even though Hotch knew they were all exhausted.

"The men we are looking for are still to be considered armed and dangerous," Hotch began. "As someone pointed out earlier, they won't come into custody easily. They will fight back, and from we have seen so far, these unsubs are smart. They might already have a plan for this scenario so we need to stay alert."

"There's three doors that need to be watched," Rossi said. "There's the front door of the cabin facing the west side, and there's two doors in back. One door leads to the kitchen while the last door leads to the back of the property. There's windows of course, but the unsubs are more likely to try to escape from one of the doors."

"There's five people that have been abducted that we know of," Prentiss said. "There could be more, but those five are the only ones known at this time. Sarah Nelson. Jenny Parker. Spencer Reid. Derek Morgan. Peter Boyle. One of the daughters of the cabin owner might also be locked up in there. Tatiana Garland. Bringing the kidnapped victims to safety is our main concern."

"You have an ambulance waiting already?" Hotch asked the sheriff.

The older man nodded. "They are waiting on the highway for our call. It will be really hard to hide the noise that one of those vehicles can make so I thought it was best to keep them hidden."

"Prentiss and J.J., I want you watching the back door. Rossi will be at the kitchen entrance with Calvin, and I'll handle the front door with the sheriff. All other officers I want around the general area so in case the unsubs do manage to run, they can't get far. Any questions?" Hotch asked.

Nobody raised their hands or spoke up. This was it. "Remember. No sirens. All talking must be done in whispers. If the unsubs find us outside and waiting, I wouldn't put it past them to just kill all of the victims so we need to be quiet. The cars we drive in can't be making much noise either so let's wait five minutes in between each vehicle which should give everyone enough time to park without being noticed."

"Please bring my boys home," Garcia said quietly. She had tears in her eyes, and she was clutching some stuffed animal that she found in her purse. "Don't think I'll even be able to breathe until I know they are safe."

J.J. walked over to her and hugged Garcia. Garcia accepted the hug, but she didn't end up sobbing on J.J.'s shoulder. She found her composure, but J.J. was still the one who had to break the hug. Hotch hated having to bring Garcia there, but they needed all the help they could get. Garcia never did well when she way away from the familiar surroundings of her colorful work space. The abductions happened less than a day before, but Garcia wasn't handling it well at all. It was scary for all of them. The thoughts of Morgan and Reid already being dead wouldn't disappear from his thoughts no matter how hard he tried.

"Ready agent?" the sheriff asked. Hotch nodded his head, and followed the sheriff outside. He reminded the others to give him at least five minutes before the next group headed out. When he sat down in the passenger seat next to the sheriff, he kept willing the thoughts of Reid and Morgan gone and out of his memory, but it wasn't working. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was their lifeless bodies covered in bruises and blood. Hotch wasn't going to let that happen. It wasn't too late for his friends. They had to still be alive and waiting.

 _hope you all enjoyed this very lovely chapter and PLEASE review. I love love love my reviews. I hope to have the next chapter up sometime this week so be on a look out for it. till next time friends xoxoxo_


	11. Chapter 11

_sry I didn't this up before Christmas. I didn't even get this up before new year's day because I fail apparently. I did get an exciting job for the holidays cutting up pineapples where I found out that I'm allergic to pineapples so it was a win win for everyone I guess. but me. I didn't win anything. but its ok cause I finally got this chapter done lol. I'm pretty sure the chapter after this one is the last one ever for this story which is sad. I'm always super sad when my stories come to an end_

Morgan wasn't planning on letting go of Reid. He held the younger man close to him while he searched for something to cover up the wound with. He could probably rip off more of his jeans, but that was going to be hard with only one hand to tear with. Reid still wasn't responding to any of Morgan's pleas, but he had to stop the bleeding. He wondered if Jenny would be against sacrificing a little bit of her undergarments for Reid's head wound, but he wasn't going to ask her. It took her what seemed like half an hour to just move Peter near the windows. She wasn't going to be ripping off her clothes to help Reid. If Morgan could get the book off his arm, he could probably use the cloths on that as a bandage for Reid. The boy genius needed something. The blood was soaking the carpet, and the black bruise underneath his shoulder looked even more painful up close. Morgan had to do something to help. Reid needed him now more than ever. "It's okay Reid," Morgan whispered. "I got you."

"Agent Morgan? Hello? You still with us?" Anthony asked. Morgan didn't want to look up. Nothing else mattered now other than helping Reid.

"I don't think he is," Michael said.

"Earth to Agent Morgan," Anthony continued as if Michael said nothing. Morgan didn't want to ever see Anthony or Michael again as long as he lived, but Jenny's whimpers made him turn away from Reid. Anthony was holding Jenny so close to him that her cheek was touching his, but pointed near the back of her head was the gun that Reid was shot with. "Let go of the body or I might forget the games and just blow her brains out. Want that to happen agent?"

"Guys, you don't have to do this," Morgan said. "Please." Reid just felt so cold in his arms. He couldn't let Reid go.

"Oh, no, we do," Anthony said with the biggest grin on his face. "Giving you five seconds to choose between screaming lady or dead friend. What's it going to be?" Jenny was begging for Morgan's help with her eyes. She didn't even look confident that Morgan was going to choose her over Reid.

Morgan almost said he didn't care. All that mattered now was getting Reid to the hospital. He refused to believe that Reid was dead. He brushed the hair away from Reid's face, but Reid still felt cold in his arms. If their roles were reversed, Morgan would want Reid to let him go to save the woman. There would be no reason for someone else to get murdered that night. Jenny was sobbing loudly, and even though Morgan wanted to spend the rest of the night keeping Reid safe in his arms, he couldn't do that. He kissed Reid on the forehead, and using his good arm, he laid the baby of their team on the stained carpet. He resisted every urge to attack Michael when the brat took Reid's arms and dragged him to Anthony.

"See how easy that was?" Anthony asked. "Now we can all be friends again." Anthony shoved Jenny in front of Morgan. She fell on her knees, and scooted next to Morgan as fast as she could. Morgan kept his mouth glued shut when both of the unsubs picked up Reid. Michael held Reid's feet and legs while Anthony held up Reid by his armpits. Reid's head was resting on his shoulder, and with ease, the murderers got Reid up the stairs. "We'll be back soon. As soon as he is buried, we are coming back for Peter. After the dead are gone, we can finish the bet. I wonder how many bullets this gun has left. Guess we'll find out together, right?

Morgan sat there in shock after they left. He didn't hear Anthony's threat, and he didn't notice when the unsubs failed to lock the door behind them. He felt numb. He couldn't save Sarah Nelson. He couldn't save Peter. He couldn't save Reid, and there would be no way in hell that he would be able to save Jenny when they came back. Morgan's spirits were sinking, but he wasn't about to just give up. He couldn't give up. Morgan wasn't going to let those assholes win. They were going to pay for what they did.

"I'm sorry," Jenny said. "I really am." Jenny looked like a wreck with tears drying across her face, and she had almost as many bloody marks across her stomach as Reid and Peter did. She didn't ask for any of this. Morgan wasn't going to just give up on Reid, but he was going to try his best to get Jenny out of there. He snapped himself out of the depression he was feeling, and rolled his neck to get the blood flowing again. It was still freezing in that damned room and he could only walk with one of his legs, but he was ready. Anthony and Michael weren't going to be the end of him. "I'm really sorry."

"Are you alright?" Morgan asked her. He didn't see any new marks on her, but he hadn't really memorized her before. "Did they do anything while I was with Reid?"

"No," she said. "I'm fine. Well, they didn't stab me again or anything if that's what you mean. I'm glad they didn't shoot me."

Morgan nodded. He was glad they didn't either. He didn't want to be alone. "If either Anthony or Michael comes in here alone, we need to jump then. I think that's our best shot. We get that gun and threaten to kill one of them. Promise I won't shoot if they let you go, and then you can go get help. I know my team is nearby. Maybe they are trying to find the cabin. Do you think you can look out the window? You might be able to see where Anthony and Michael are."

Jenny didn't need to be told twice. She got up, and slowly made her way over to the window. Morgan noted the bruises on her legs. Jenny was held captive there for hours before the others go there. It was a miracle this woman was still alive. She cautiously stepped over Peter, and put her face next to the window. "I don't see anything. Like, at all. It's black outside."

Morgan thought it was a long shot anyway. He didn't even know if the den faced the front of the house or the back. He was just hoping to find out what the unsubs were doing to find out how much time they had left before Anthony and Michael returned. They might be able to pull off what Peter originally suggested. If Jenny could find the biggest book on that shelf and slam it on Michael's head, that might be enough force to knock him out cold.

"Wait, I hear them talking," Jenny said. "I can't hear what they are saying, but it's them. It sounds like they are arguing or something."

Morgan lifted up his head. That was surprising. He didn't think Anthony and Michael would ever argue. Michael didn't seem like the type to disagree with anything that his good buddy told him. Were they devolving even more? Morgan couldn't imagine why they would be fighting outside in the cold while trying to get rid of a body. This couldn't be good.

"You can't hear what they are arguing about?" Morgan asked. "Are they mentioning Reid at all or is it about us?"

It got quiet in the room for a moment while Jenny strained her ears to find out what the argument was about. All Morgan could hear was some reporter telling any listeners that they still had no idea where the kidnapped victims were, and begging the audience to call with any new information about the abductors. "I can't hear what they are saying, but they both sound mad."

This wasn't good. Morgan put his good arm on the carpet, and pulled himself over to the bookcase. There weren't many books to choose from, but this was probably their only shot of getting out of there alive. He found an encyclopedia on the bottom shelf, and he could just see a few more on the top shelves. He could probably slam the book on Michael's knee while Jenny attacked his head. Morgan didn't even know if that would work. What if they didn't come in separately? Anthony might not care if Michael was killed. "Jenny."

"Wait," she said raising her hand up. "They stopped. I don't hear anything at all now. I thought I heard footsteps, but now it's quiet out there. No digging or talking or anything."

Morgan held his breath, but he couldn't hear the front door opening or anyone coming down the hallway. All he could hear was the damned reporter, and the sudden silence was scaring him. Something was wrong.

"I still can't hear anything," Jenny said. "Want me to turn off the TV? I'm sure that's blocking some of the noise from outside."

"You heard them earlier though," Morgan pointed out. Jenny looked back out the window, but she didn't tell Morgan that she heard them arguing again. The unsubs were just gone. Morgan didn't know what was going on, but he still wanted the book. He took the heavy book off the shelf and put it in his lap. That's when he could smell something in the air. It wasn't strong at first. He could barely tell the difference, but the longer he sat there, the stronger it became. The air felt thick, but the sudden warmth in the room was what got his attention.

"Where did they go?" Jenny asked.

Morgan tossed the book aside. "We have to get out of here. Now!" He pulled himself back towards the little staircase and looked up at the shut door.

"Why? What's wrong?" Jenny finally left her post at the window. She stepped over Peter, and slowly made her way over to Morgan.

"Fire," Morgan said as calmly as he could. "I think they set the house on fire." He didn't think they set the house on fire. He know they did.

* * *

Calvin was a talker, but Rossi barely heard a word he said. Rossi didn't want to seem rude, but he was nervous. His gut feeling was telling him he was going to find a body somewhere in that cabin and all he could do was pray it wasn't going to be Morgan or Reid. Calvin parked the car behind one of the many trees. Hotch reminded them to stay hidden before they left so none of the police cars had their lights on, and none of them parked in front of the cabin like they usually would. Rossi didn't mind walking, but he felt more like running. He wanted to get there as fast as he physically could. He pulled out his gun, and kept it by his side.

"Remember where the kitchen is?" Calvin asked. He was a few steps ahead of Rossi. Rossi normally wanted to be in the front, but Calvin knew the woods better than him. With Rossi's luck, he would get lost and end up in the middle the forest alone and cold. They would have to a search party just to bring Rossi back to the ranger's station. That would make for a funny story later on, but that wasn't going to help bring his friends home. He let Calvin lead the way, and never let the officer out of his sight.

"Side of the house," Rossi said thinking back of the map they saw. "Near the back. Shouldn't be too hard to find, but we aren't going in until Hotch gives us the okay."

"Of course," Calvin whispered and stopped walking. Rossi caught up, and he could just see the cabin through the trees. It was a good sized cabin with a wooden fence around the property. The fence wasn't going to be a problem. It looked like there were a few lights turned on inside the cabin, and parked out right by the front door was the same car that Reid and Morgan were abducted in. Rossi recognized it immediately. Rossi looked around the property, and he could just see Hotch with the sheriff waiting behind another large tree. The unsubs weren't outside.

"We just need to stay hidden until Hotch gives the order," Rossi said. "Or if something happens like if the unsubs come out."

"What about smoke?" Calvin asked pointing. Rossi followed Calvin's point, and Rossi saw black smoke coming out from one of the windows. Rossi nearly dropped his phone in an attempt to get the thing out of his pocket. He called Hotch with one button.

"You see something?" Hotch asked.

"Smoke," Rossi said. "Looks like it's coming from one of the bedrooms, and there's a lot of it. I think they set the house on fire." The smoke was getting thicker. It would only take a few minutes for the fire to block off the kitchen door. If any victims were tied up in that area, they were going to be dead if Rossi didn't act fast. "Watch the front door for the unsubs. I'm going to the kitchen with Calvin."

"Go." Hotch said. "Be careful."

Rossi nodded at Calvin, and they both proceeded to the kitchen door. They had their guns drawn, but they didn't talk. They weren't giving each other orders or anything. They tried to blend into their environment so in case the unsubs were watching, they wouldn't be an immediate target. The smoke was getting thicker though. Rossi went first towards the door when the door opened on its own. Rossi turned around with Calvin to get out of the way and hide, but it wasn't the unsubs at the door. It was a woman with dirty blonde hair wearing only her undergarments, and she had Morgan leaning against her. She was supporting his weight as she guided him through the house. Morgan was only wearing a ripped up pair of dirty jeans, and there was some kind of book tied to one of his arms. He was in bad shape, and it he could barely keep his eyes open. The woman screamed when she saw Calvin and Rossi approaching. She positioned Morgan back inside the cabin and tried shutting the door.

"It's okay, it's okay," Rossi shouted. "We're the good guys. Is Agent Morgan okay?" She opened the door a little bit more when Rossi said his name, and looked over at Calvin's police uniform. That seemed to convince her, and she opened the door back up.

"I'm okay," Morgan said with a weak voice. "The unsubs aren't here." The woman brought Morgan back out towards the door when Hotch ran towards them. "Get Reid."

"Where is he?" Hotch asked. "There are officers guarding the front door. Those men aren't getting away. Is Reid inside?"

"No," Morgan said. "They took him out back to bury him." Hotch didn't wait for him to say more. He ran around the house.

"I don't know where the unsubs are though," Morgan continued. "One of them has a gun." Rossi made a mental note to tell Hotch this as soon as Morgan and this woman with him were out of that cabin.

"Here, let me," Rossi told the woman. Rossi stepped up to their level, and the woman helped put Morgan's arm around Rossi's shoulder. It was clear that the arm with the book attached to it couldn't have any pressure put on it. Rossi had a million questions, but now wasn't the time. There was still a fire, and they were much too close to the cabin. Calvin came up behind them. He took off his jacket to wrap it around the woman, and she started crying when he put his arm around her to help her get out. Rossi let them get ahead, and saw an ambulance just pulling up in the front yard. Prentiss and J.J. ran towards Rossi.

"I knew you guys were coming," Morgan said with a smile. "When I didn't see J.J. talking on the news anymore, I knew you guys were almost here." More ambulances were pulling up next to the first one.

"Do you think we can get over to the ambulance or do you want them to bring a bed over here?" Rossi asked. He couldn't tell how badly wounded Morgan's leg was. There was dried blood on the jeans, and the pants were actually torn right where he was shot. It was wrapped in some make shift bandage, but Morgan wasn't putting any weight on it.

"It's only a few steps," Morgan said. "Gotta get away from this damned cabin."

"I know," Rossi said. "I don't know if the fire department has been called yet, but they need to get here fast. The fire will probably spread quickly to those trees."

"Where is Peter?" J.J. asked. Morgan hadn't mentioned anyone other than Reid, and Rossi didn't see anyone else hiding in the kitchen. He didn't know which woman they found with Morgan, but there were at least two more missing women along with Peter. That wasn't even counting Tatiana Garland who most likely was in the house when the unsubs took over.

"In the den," Morgan told her. Just like Hotch, J.J. was gone before Morgan could say more. She had a handkerchief over her mouth, and Prentiss ran into the cabin after her. Rossi didn't like them going into a burning house, but Rossi had to get Morgan to the ambulance. He wasn't doing too well. He looked extremely pale, and Rossi noticed that he was supporting less of his weight than he was before. Rossi whistled to get the attention of the paramedics. Morgan wanted to walk over there, but Rossi didn't think they were going to make it. Rossi couldn't carry Morgan all the way over there. The paramedics saw Rossi, and got the bed out of their ambulance to put Morgan in.

"Stay with me Morgan," Rossi said as they took another step forward.

"Did Hotch find Reid yet?" Morgan asked. His voice was cracking, and when he tried to step forward he fell. Rossi caught and saved him from the fall.

"Hotch is getting him," Rossi assured Morgan. He didn't know if Morgan even heard him though. Morgan's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed just before the paramedics got there. They lifted Rossi's friend from the cold ground and onto the bed.

"He's breathing," one of the paramedics said. One of them unwrapped the bandage from Morgan's leg, and Rossi was surprised to see the leg relatively clean. He could see a bullet hole, but the blood around the injury was wiped away. Reid must have done that. Reid was probably the one who wrapped it up too. "We have to get him back to the ambulance. We're too close to this smoke. Was the fire department called?"

"Checking on that now," Rossi said pulling out his phone. He wasn't sure if he should stay back with Morgan or if he should find out what Hotch was doing. He didn't like it either that Prentiss and J.J. were still in the burning cabin. Calvin walked the woman over to a second ambulance, but he didn't stay with her. He was back with Rossi while the paramedics were checking over Morgan.

"I'm sure she's going to be just fine," he said looking back at her. "And the fire department is on their way. Sheriff already called them."

"Did you get the woman's name?" Rossi asked. It was either the young lady whose parents owned the cabin or one of the two abducted women.

"Parker I think she said," Calvin said. "Jenny.

"Okay," Rossi said thinking back. "Parker is safe. Morgan is with the paramedics, and Hotch is getting Reid. Hopefully, J.J. and Prentiss can find Peter in the house. That leaves Sarah Nelson and Tatiana Garland."

"Do you think they could still be in there?" Calvin asked.

If they were, it was too late for them. Half of the cabin was up in flames, and Rossi was thinking about going in there himself until he saw J.J. leading the way out. He could hear the sirens from the fire truck coming their way, and he took another step back. Where were the unsubs? He never saw them fleeing the cabin, and Hotch never called for backup. Morgan said the unsubs weren't in the cabin, but where the hell were they?

* * *

J.J. could barely see. She couldn't believe that Morgan would just leave Peter behind, but maybe he was unconscious. That woman couldn't have supported Morgan and Peter. J.J. got past the kitchen without any trouble, but when she got to hallway, she didn't know which way to go. There was no way in the world for her to go left. All she could see was smoke from that direction so she had to go right. She saw an open door a few steps away from the kitchen so that was the room she chose. She was praying that this room was the den. She went through the open door, and found it was already covered in smoke. Morgan was smart to leave when he did. Breathing in the smoke would be enough to kill them.

The room around her was fuzzy. She could see a bookshelf, a couch, and what looked like a television that was still turned on. J.J. recognized the reporter talking on the channel. She was just talking with that woman an hour before. It was funny that the unsubs let them watch the news. At least Morgan and Reid knew the team was looking for them. She took a step further into the room. She didn't see any closets that Peter could be hiding in, and he wasn't resting on the sofa that for some reason, didn't have any cushions on it. There was blood all over the carpet though. There was more in some places than others, but J.J. rarely saw this much blood at a crime scene. This had to be the room where the murders took place. She was turning around to check the other side of the couch when she saw a body lying near the window.

She kept the handkerchief close to her nose and mouth as she hurried over. The blonde hair gave the body away as Peter, and she dropped on her knees to find a pulse. She put her fingers up to his wrist when she saw his throat. The cut itself didn't look all that deep, but it had done its job. Peter was dead. She felt like crying herself. She came all this way, and she kept promising this boy's father that Peter was going to come home safe. That was never going to happen now. Boyle was never going to talk to his son again. There was blood all over his stomach, and even his underpants were drenched with it. The boxers the kid was wearing were torn up badly. One more rip would have rendered the boxers useless. What was going on in this room, and how in the world was she going to tell Peter's father?

"J.J.? You in here?" Prentiss shouted. J.J. didn't even turn around. She knew that Prentiss was coming into the den.

"Yes," J.J. answered, but she didn't get up. She put Peter's arms back on his stomach.

"Is that Peter?" Prentiss asked. She got on her knees beside J.J. "Is he…" Prentiss put her hand up to her mouth. J.J. didn't have to tell her anything. "Poor Peter."

"I think the unsubs were doing the killing in this room. There's blood everywhere." The carpet that Peter was lying on looked relatively clean when compared to the rest of the room. He probably wasn't killed in that exact spot. He was moved to the window after he died for some reason.

"We have to go," Prentiss said standing back up. "The smoke in here is getting worse." Prentiss put her sleeve up to her nose to block out the smoke.

"We can't just leave him," J.J. said. She couldn't give Boyle back his son, but she could make sure he got his son's body. She knew they didn't have time to get Rossi in here, but J.J. wasn't confident she was strong enough to pick up Peter. Peter didn't look all that heavy, but J.J. was never that big of a person.

Prentiss looked over at the door like she was thinking about calling Rossi, but she didn't. She turned around, and with J.J.'s help, she picked up Peter in her arms. J.J. made sure his head was supported so it wouldn't just be hanging there, and when Prentiss looked ready, J.J. led the way out of the room.

"Don't get too far ahead," Prentiss said. "I can't see that good right now." Prentiss coughed once. She didn't bring anything to cover up her mouth with. Even if she did have something she could use, she probably couldn't while she was holding Peter. J.J. just slowed down her pace so Prentiss could see her.

"Kitchen door is right there," J.J. said. The door was still partially opened from when Morgan and that woman escaped. J.J. was relieved when she saw the door too. She was just getting use to the thick smoke, but the extreme heat from the fire was just reaching them. J.J. didn't get scared easily, but her heart was just pounding. She prayed that there weren't more victims trapped in the other rooms that she couldn't get to, but she didn't hear any screams. J.J. opened the kitchen door wide, and stepped aside so Prentiss could get out first.

Prentiss got out of the house without tripping. J.J. was right behind her, but didn't look back. She couldn't stress herself out even more thinking that there might be more victims trapped in there. There was nothing she could do about it, and she still had no idea where Reid was. Morgan was still getting looked over by the paramedics, but Rossi was running towards them.

"Here, let me," Rossi said holding his hands out. Prentiss gently put Peter in Rossi's arms, and Rossi held the boy close to them as the four of them ran out of the way of the firemen just arriving on the scene. Rossi didn't ask if Peter was alive or not. Just looking at the kid gave Rossi all the answers he needed. Rossi brought Peter over to one of the ambulances, and put the boy onto the bed without telling the paramedics anything. "Did you see any other bodies in there? There are two women still missing."

"We didn't see anyone else," Prentiss said. She pulled a sheet on the bed over Peter's body. She kept his face uncovered, but none of the paramedics moved to check his pulse. Every single one of them got a good view of his throat.

"I don't think we're going to recover much evidence from the cabin," Rossi said. The flames were already destroying the den that J.J. and Prentiss just escaped from. It was terrifying to see how fast that fires could spread. The firemen were working as hard as they could, but J.J. did agree with Rossi. The cabin couldn't be saved at this point.

"Any signs of the unsubs?" J.J. asked.

"No, but we should probably go see what Hotch is doing," Rossi said looking towards the back of the house. "He's been gone for a while, and I haven't heard from him. He might need help." Prentiss nodded, and both of them ran behind the house pulling their guns out. J.J. stayed behind for a second. She looked at Peter, and then at the paramedic standing behind him.

"Would you mind taking him to the hospital instead of the morgue?" J.J. asked. "I know that sounds strange, but he needs to go to the hospital first."

"Alright ma'am," the young paramedic said. He got Peter into the ambulance, and J.J. ran to catch up with the others. She was more than ready to help save Reid. She didn't have any bad feelings that something was wrong, but why wasn't Hotch back? Reid wasn't next to Morgan on their way to the hospital, and the unsubs weren't rotting in the back of a police officer's car. Something had to have gone wrong.

* * *

Morgan was safe, J.J. was going to rescue that Boyle kid, and now all Hotch had to do was find out where Reid was so the boy genius could go home. When Hotch got in the backyard, he didn't see a single thing. There was dying grass and more pine trees, but he didn't see Reid anywhere. The sheriff was having the officers search the nearby area after one of the officers thought they spotted something, but Hotch didn't care about catching the bad guys right then. His only concern was finding his youngest agent.

"Reid?" he called out. He didn't expect an answer, but he tried all the same. "Reid? Can you hear me?" There was no reply. The unsubs might have taken him into the woods when they ran off. Hotch couldn't figure out how those monsters knew the team was coming, but they did and they got of there without a trace. If Hotch wanted to find Reid, he was going to have to go into the woods himself, but he couldn't do that without help. He didn't know the area that well, and it would be far too easy to get lost. He needed Calvin's help, but he didn't see Calvin either. For all he knew, Calvin was one of the officers sent out looking for the unsubs. Hotch kicked his foot against a rock in frustration when he noticed something. The dirt wasn't a frozen block against the dead grass. The dirt was loose, and the rock went flying when Hotch kicked it. Hotch pulled his flash light out, and bent over for a better look. Almost none of the dirt in the yard was frozen. It was loose like someone was recently playing with it. Or digging in it.

Hotch dropped to his knees, and used his own hands to push the fresh dirt out of the way. Someone was buried in the yard. If it was Reid, he didn't have time to wait for a shovel. His hands were good enough. "Calvin!" Hotch shouted. He needed help if he was going to get Reid out in time. He was digging as fast as he could, but it still didn't seem fast enough. Calvin ran out from the side of the house, and stood there for a moment watching Hotch dig.

"Help me," Hotch said. "I think the unsubs buried Reid." Calvin didn't need further explanation. He got on his knees right next to Hotch, and started digging out the grave. When Hotch's fingers finally brushed against hair, he held his breath. The body was he was touching felt cold, and Hotch began digging even faster to pull the person out. He found the back of the head, and with Calvin's help, he uncovered the face. It wasn't Reid. It was a young woman with dark hair and delicate facial features. If Hotch had to bet, he'd say this girl was Tatiana, but he felt like he was running out of time.

"There's more of the these," Calvin said pointing out. Hotch counted four other graves. "I'll get this one. You get the next one." Calvin scooted over to the next grave, and started his frantic digging. Hotch got up, and ran over to the one next to Calvin. "Hang in there Reid. We're coming," Hotch whispered. Hotch didn't think they would have enough time to dig out all of the graves. If someone was still alive in them, they wouldn't last long so Hotch was grateful when Rossi sat down beside him and started digging into the next grave. Prentiss started on the last one without anyone telling her to.

"What are we looking for?" Rossi finally asked after his fingers were caked in mud.

"Reid," Hotch said. "Morgan saw the unsubs take Reid out here, and we found one of the girls buried in the first grave."

"And another one them buried in this one," Calvin said grimly. Hotch peaked over, and saw another woman. This one was older than the first, but she wasn't as clean. There was a bullet wound in her forehead which was now covered in tiny stones and thick dirt. That explained where the last woman was, but then who was buried in the graves that Rossi and Prentiss were digging out? Hotch didn't think he wanted to know. J.J. came around the house, and joined Prentiss digging out the last grave.

Hotch kept digging though and found out the grave he was working on wasn't as deep as the first one. For this, he was grateful. The unsubs must have done this one in a hurry. Hotch pulled out a hand from the early grave, and recognized Reid's long fingers immediately. "Reid!" He shouted without giving much thought to what he was saying. Rossi helped uncover Reid, and Hotch pulled out the younger man from the dirt. A white cloth was placed over his nose and mouth, but what worried Hotch the amount of blood on the side of his head. Reid's hair was wet with it, and the young man wasn't breathing. "Come on Reid. Come back to us."

J.J. forgot her efforts to help Prentiss as soon as Reid was uncovered, and she ran over to them. Rossi was pulling Reid's hair back looking for the bullet hole, and Hotch wrapped Reid up in his jacket. Reid's skin felt ice cold. All he was wearing was a badly ripped up pair of baby blue boxers. As soon as he felt that Reid was covered up properly, he laid Reid down on the dead grass to start CPR. "J.J., can you bring the paramedics back here? Quick!"

J.J. nodded, and ran back to the front of the house shouting at the top of her lungs. Rossi was still looking at the side of Reid's head, but he stopped at stared at Hotch. "Aaron, there's no bullet hole here. There's a lot of blood, and I can feel broken skin, but no bullet hole. I don't think Reid was shot. Not in his head at least."

"Are you sure?" Prentiss asked. She sat down next to them, and brushed the dirt away from Reid's face, but there wasn't a lot of it to begin with. The white cloth placed over Reid's nose and mouth kept his face cleaner than the girls. Hotch continued with the CRP, and every few minutes, he would bend over to blow air directly into Reid's mouth. Whoever buried Reid either didn't want him breathing up dirt or they wanted to keep his face clean. Both sounded strange.

"Look," Rossi said. He moved Reid's hair around, and Hotch didn't see a bullet hole either. The damage looked like a bullet just grazed Reid's head, but there was extensive bruising to Reid's thighs and one of his arms looked broken. What did those monsters do to him? Hotch pressed down in the technique again, and Reid's mouth dropped open in a weak cough.

"Oh my God, Reid," Prentiss said. Hotch stopped with the CPR, and watched Reid struggle to take in some air. Reid coughed again. "It's okay Reid. Just breathe. You're safe now."

Rossi took off his jacket too, and wrapped it around Reid's shoulders. It was cold enough to see their breath outside. Hotch would have given Reid his socks if the kid needed them, but the paramedics ran onto the scene. Prentiss got out of the way, and Hotch helped them lift Reid onto the stretcher. Reid never opened his eyes, but he was still coughing.

"He's breathing," Hotch told the paramedics. "And we don't think he's been shot in the side of his head. We couldn't find a bullet hole."

They nodded at Hotch, but Hotch wasn't even sure if the workers heard him. They secured Reid to the bed, and then wheeled him out of the yard and into the closest ambulance. Hotch didn't run after them. Morgan was safe, and Reid was going to be safe. That was all that mattered.

"I'll ride with them," Rossi volunteered. "If Reid wakes up, he's going to need to see a familiar face. I'll tell all of you the second he wakes up." He looked down at his muddy fingers and shrugged. "Sure one of the guys in the ambulance has something to get this off."

Hotch nodded. Reid would need to see a familiar face when he woke up, but Hotch didn't think he was going to wake up before he got to the hospital. Hotch didn't know how much dirt Reid actually inhaled from getting buried alive, but he was still coughing when he was taken away. Hotch thanked God that they found Reid alive. The doctors were going to help him.

"And I'll ride with Morgan," Prentiss said. "I don't think he wants to be alone right now either, and if he does wake up, I'll tell him that we found Reid. I think that might help him more than any surgery can." She brushed off her pants and hurried over to the ambulance leaving Calvin, J.J., and Hotch alone with the graves. Calvin was already working on the one that Rossi left behind, and J.J. went back to work on the last one. Hotch was still shaking. He came so close to losing Reid. He could barely focus on the fire blazing behind him, or the two still partially buried bodies beside him. He just kept telling himself that Reid was safe.

"There's a man in this one," Calvin said. He used his flashlight to shove the dirt off of the face of the man in the grave. He looked to be in his 30s, but Hotch didn't recognize him. Maybe it was because Hotch was tired or the man might not have been reported missing yet. A bullet to the head caused this man's death. "I don't know him, but I'm betting wrong place wrong time?"

"Probably," Hotch said agreeing. Door to door salesman or maybe even the boyfriend of one of the victims. Valentine's Day was right around the corner, and this guy seemed like the right age group to be dating the young lady in the first grave. "Who is in the last grave?"

J.J. stopped digging after Hotch asked, and she reached inside. Hotch was waiting for her to pull out a hand or a clump of messy hair, but she pulled out a handful of clothes. Hotch could see several pairs of pants, shirts, and even some jackets. Most of the clothing was dripping wet like it just came from the wash. J.J. looked through the clothing and pulled out a pair of mis-matched socks that had been tied together. Hotch looked down. The unsubs tried killing Mogan and Reid, and after they thought that deed was done, they buried all the clothing.

"Look," J.J. said. Hotch looked over at the clothing again, and saw J.J. holding a black wallet. She opened it up, and Morgan's ID fell out.

"Agent?" Hotch nearly jumped when the walkie talkie went off. J.J. did too. "My men think they may have spotted some movement out here. You have been chasing bad guys like this longer than half my men have been alive. You can probably spot something that we might miss. Want to join us?"

"On my way," Hotch said. "J.J. can you wait here in case the unsubs come back?" Anything was possible with these two. They probably knew the woods better than Hotch, but they weren't smarter than the team. They couldn't hide out in the woods forever.

"Of course," J.J. said. "As soon as the fire is out, we have to get someone out here for the bodies. Pretty sure those reporters will find out what's going on pretty soon."

"Calvin, would you mind taking me? I don't think they are that far out," Hotch said. He had no idea where the sheriff was, but the sheriff wouldn't ask for Hotch if they were on the other side of the forest. They had to be easy to find.

"Stay close," Calvin said. He pointed his flashlight towards the black forest, and pulled his gun out of its holster. Hotch stayed right behind him.

Hotch always loved the serenity of the forest. He enjoyed hiking and camping, and breathing in fresh air that was hard to come by in the city. It seemed like murderers also enjoyed the forest. The forest was usually owned only by nature so the deeper a person got into the woods; the less likely it would be for a crime to be caught. Laws didn't apply out here to people with sick minds, and the trees would never tell what they were witness to. People died in forests all the time from simple things like falling and not being able to get to help in time. Hotch could only wonder how many poor souls already met their ends in this forest.

It was hard to keep up with Calvin. It was almost like he had the route memorized even though Hotch couldn't see a path on the ground. Leaves were crunching underneath his feet, and he ran into more trees than he could count. Calvin never ran into one. Hotch didn't hear anything. He didn't hear animals rustling around in bushes or owls singing one last song before day broke. Hotch didn't trust the silence.

"Almost there, I can see lights," Calvin said. Hotch couldn't see anything, but he trusted the officer. Hotch kept his gun in front of him, and just about a minute later, they came into a clearing where the sheriff was hanging around with two other officers.

Hotch lowered his gun and went over to them. They were all crowding around something. Hotch was hoping it was the body of one of the unsubs. Maybe he got scared and killed himself, but the area was too small for that. Hotch walked up right beside the sheriff and looked down. It was a gun placed very neatly between two twigs. Just from looking at it, he knew this gun belonged to either Reid or Morgan.

"One of my guys thought he heard something a while back, but we haven't found anything else yet," the sheriff said. "Just this gun. I'm having other men searching the forest more though with dogs. The dogs will be able to catch their scent."

"But they haven't yet," Hotch said. Dogs had an amazing sense of smell, and if those bastards were hiding in a bush or something, those dogs would find them. Hotch just wasn't convinced that the unsubs were even there anymore.

"We're going to find them. Don't worry agent. They didn't disappear into thin air or something," the sheriff assured him. "Even if they are hiding up some tree, we are going to find them."

Hotch didn't think they were hiding up in some tree, but he didn't know where they were. The unsubs obviously knew that the FBI was coming. He couldn't figure out how they knew, but it looked like they tried burying Reid before they even knew he was dead, and burning the cabin down with the other victims inside. They knew they were out of time. The last thing they needed to do was ditch the gun they had. Hotch was willing to stay up the rest of the night to arrest those bastards, but he didn't know if they would ever to find them.

"I'll be at the hospital," Hotch said after another moment of staring at the gun. "Just let me know if you find anything. I need to be with Reid and Morgan."

"Do whatever you need to," the sheriff said smiling. "I'll have my men out here looking all night till we find those murderers. They won't get away this time."

"Can you take me back?" Hotch asked Calvin.

"Yeah, just follow me," Calvin said. Hotch stayed close behind the officer, but he never put his gun away. He had to be prepared for an ambush attack. The unsubs could have been watching and waiting to attack when Hotch wasn't ready, but Hotch was ready. He didn't think they would be stupid enough to try attacking Hotch and Calvin, but he was ready.

* * *

Calvin felt terrible for Hotch and the rest of his team. He was happy that they found their team members alive, but neither one of them were in good shape. Calvin was positive that the kid in the grave was already dead so he was shocked when the kid started coughing. Their agent was stronger than he thought, but he was going to need a lot more help than simple trip to the emergency room. Calvin got the FBI team leader through the forest with no problem. He couldn't even begin to imagine what that poor man was going through. Hotch thanked him for his help, and went over to talk to the firemen. The blonde agent got up from looking at the bodies when she saw him.

"Do you think you could give me a ride?" she asked him. She put her black gloves back on her hands and zipped up her jacket.

"To the hospital?" There was no doubt she also wanted to be with her friends. She almost screamed earlier when they found Reid.

"To the dance studio," J.J. said. "We can go to the hospital after."

"Why the studio?" Calvin asked. There was nothing at the studio. He was sure those annoying reporters were already on their way to the cabin.

"Boyle," J.J. said. "He's still there. Waiting. I told him I would let him know. I can't keep him waiting anymore."

Calvin bowed his head. He knew Boyle well, and that man was waiting at the dance studio all night long. He barely remembered that man after all the events that just went on, but he wasn't an agent working for the FBI. He didn't want to suggest to her that Boyle waited a few more hours for J.J. to check up on her friends so he just pulled out his keys and led her to the car.

He turned the music on in the car to break the silence. He hated complete silence of car rides, especially long ones. It would drive him crazy if he couldn't listen to anything while driving. He found a station playing some pop music and just left it on there. J.J. just stared out the window for most of the trip. She checked her phone whenever it buzzed, but if she got any news about her friends in the hospital, she kept it to herself. He could see the colors changing in the sky when they got on the highway. It wasn't long until sunrise, but he didn't feel sleepy. For the first time in his life, he didn't need coffee to keep him awake. He just wanted all of this to be over. After he got this agent to the hospital, he wanted to wrap himself up in his covers for the next week. Even if he didn't feel tired, he was mentally drained and more than ready to go home.

J.J. didn't say one word until they were around the corner from the studio. "Thank you," she said softly. "For the ride. You didn't have to take me, but Boyle is waiting for me."

When he pulled into the parking lot, he saw that J.J. was right. Boyle was standing in the doorway watching Calvin park the car. "No problem," Calvin said. "I mean, you would have done the same thing for me. Did you um, want me to talk to him? Haven't had to talk to many parents like this yet. Sheriff usually does it himself, but I'm sure I'll be telling the parents of one of those women. Or even that man in the grave. Once we find out who he is, his parents need to know. They are probably worried sick about him."

"I need to do this myself," J.J. said unbuckling her seat belt. "Can you wait for us? I'm sure he's going to want a ride to the hospital too."

"Sure thing," Calvin said. He got out of the car, and watched J.J. go over to Boyle. Most of the reporters were already gone. He wasn't sure if they got a tip about the cabin, but there were only a few still hanging around like vultures. It was going to make their news stories even better if someone died from all of this. They fed off crap like that.

Calvin took a place in between J.J. and the reporters. He wasn't going to let a single one of them harass J.J. or Boyle. Boyle stepped towards J.J. when she got close enough. Calvin couldn't hear what she was telling him, but after only talking to him for about 30 seconds, the man collapsed on the cement. J.J. got right down with him, and she wrapped her arms around the now sobbing man. Boyle kept shouting his son's name, but he rested his head on J.J.'s shoulder and just allowed his tears to fall. One of the reporters heard Boyle's desperate cries, but she kept her distance when she saw Calvin standing at his post. Boyle could stay there as long as he needed to, but Calvin didn't think it would be long. Boyle was going to want to see his son soon.

 _thanks for sticking with this story with all of the wonderful reviews and comments. I just love reading the reviews and I always save my favorites. it keeps me going haha. till we meet again guys xoxoxoxo_


	12. Chapter 12

_hey guys. sorry for the long delay. as usual. been super busy with a full time job at school so I don't get the chance to write as much as I would like, but I'm totally in my writing mood again. my writing muse has come back to me so hopefully I can get a new chapter up for my other story soon. this chapter for Laughing in the Dark will be the last one for this story so pweez enjoy =)_

Calvin was right about Boyle wanting a car ride to the hospital. He didn't even ask when J.J. got up with the devastated man and made their way over to the parking lot. Calvin got in his car and turned the heat on. It was going to be a chilly morning. J.J. opened the door so Boyle could sit in the back seat, and J.J. took her place next to Calvin. They sat in heavy silence for the first few minutes of the journey. Calvin didn't know what to say so he thought it was best to just keep his mouth shut. J.J. was back on her phone when they reached the main roads. Boyle was sniffling in the back seat.

"Do you know what time he died?" Boyle asked about five minutes into the ride. He wasn't even looking out the windows to distract himself. He was just staring at his knees.

"There hasn't been an autopsy yet," J.J. said.

"I just want to know what the hell I was doing when my only son was dying," Boyle said.

"You can't beat yourself up over this," Calvin told him. "You were doing everything you could have. The only ones you can blame are the asses that did this. Not you."

Boyle didn't say anything else the rest of the trip. He didn't take out his phone to make any calls or text messages, and he never asked what killed his son. He was quiet when Calvin parked the car in front of the hospital, and he let Calvin and J.J. guide him inside. Calvin had no idea where to go. He didn't have a clue where hospitals kept the deceased so he was glad when he saw Agent Prentiss waiting for them. Exhaustion was written across her face, but she was alert when she saw them come through the doors.

"They put him just around the corner," Prentiss said. One of the nurses buzzed them into the back hallways, and Prentiss took them to Peter's room. It looked like an actual hospital room, but Calvin couldn't see inside. Calvin didn't think he wanted to go inside. The door was shut. There was a nurse's station just down the hallway, and he could hear people talking, but it looked like they had this area to themselves. "Room 106."

"Can I just go inside?" Boyle asked.

"Yeah," Prentiss said. She stood back next to J.J., and Boyle went in the room by himself.

Calvin pulled up a chair across from the room. He would be there as long as Boyle needed. J.J. and Prentiss stood next to him. He imagined both of them would be leaving shortly to check on their friends. Boyle didn't scream or yell when he saw the body of his son, but loud sobbing was coming from the room. Calvin felt his heart drop in his chest. There was nothing worse than a parent seeing the body of their dead child, and Calvin felt like he was partly at fault. They could blame the bad guys all night long, but if they had gotten to the cabin maybe even just a few minutes earlier, this kid could have been saved. Calvin felt like puking.

"Has he told his wife yet?" Prentiss asked after a few minutes of listening to poor man's distraught cries.

"I don't think he's told anyone," J.J. said. "I mean, it's still really early. Most people are probably still sleeping."

"You guys go check on your friends," Calvin said. "I'll wait here for Boyle. If something exciting happens over here, I'll be sure to call on you."

"Thanks," J.J. said. "I'll be back later to check on you."

"Does he have a time limit with this room or anything?" Calvin asked.

"Nope," Prentiss said. "Took care of all of that already. He can take as long as he needs."

Calvin smiled and waved them off. He really hoped their friends were alright, and that the sheriff was going to find those murderers soon. He wished he was out there with the other officers. They needed all the men they could get to track down those assholes, but he was sure they were doing just fine without him. Sheriff Bolton once tracked down a thief that was hiding out in the middle of a lake. He had a skill, and that skill was going to come in handy finding these guys. The last he heard, the officers were still in the forest looking.

Agent Prentiss was smart in not having a time limit for the hospital room though. Calvin almost fell asleep waiting for Bolton to come out. He didn't have any nurses walking to him asking questions, and he never once saw a doctor so it was very easy to just doze off. He had a long night, and with nothing keeping him awake, his eyes just got heavier and heavier. He never fell into a deep sleep though, and when Bolton finally emerged from the room, Calvin was on his feet. Bolton's eyes were red. Calvin felt just awful.

"What happened to Peter's finger?" Bolton asked, his voice cracking with every word. "One of his fingers is missing. His pinky finger."

"I don't know sir," Calvin said. Calvin hadn't even seen the body. He didn't think he wanted to at this point. He planning to ask J.J. what she thought killed the boy, but he never got the chance yet. There was no way in hell he was going to ask Boyle.

"I gotta call my wife," Boyle said. Calvin didn't think the grieving man heard a word that Calvin said. His hands were shaking as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Sir, that can wait until later. It's still really early." Calvin pulled out his own phone. It wasn't even six in the morning yet. People were still fast asleep in their beds.

"I don't think she ever went to sleep," Boyle said. Calvin didn't blame her if she did stay up. It would be hard to sleep with one of your children missing. Boyle dialed the number, and stepped further out into the hallway. Calvin didn't follow him. His wife must have answered on the first ring because Calvin heard low mumbles coming from Boyle. The call didn't last long. The phone was back in Boyle's pocket just about a minute later when he came back from the hallway.

"She answered?" Calvin asked.

"She's on her way. Tell me when she gets here. I'm going back in with Peter. He never liked hospitals," Boyle said quietly. New tears were forming in his eyes when he turned to the door. Calvin sat back down and put his hands on his face. When he dreamed of being a cop, he always thought about chasing bad guys into dark alleys and rescuing damsels in distress. He never once thought about sitting in hospitals with fathers who lost their children. He didn't like it one bit.

* * *

Sitting in that waiting room was one of the most stressful moments in Rossi's life. He kept telling himself that Morgan and Reid were going to be just fine. Morgan was able to walk out of the cabin without much help. Rossi didn't think he breathed in that much smoke, but Morgan couldn't keep himself awake for more than a few minutes when he was outside. That could be from a number of things, and Rossi was worried that one of the numerous injuries on Morgan got infected. Infections weren't the worst things in the world though, and Rossi was in good hands. He was sure that when the doctor was done, Morgan was going be just fine. He was more concerned about Reid.

By some miracle, Hotch did get the boy genius breathing again, but Reid had been buried alive. Reid didn't open his eyes once on the way to the hospital, but Rossi held his hand the entire way. He was sure that Reid could sense a friend was near. Rossi tried not to stare at Reid's hand though. It was impossible not to see the bloody marks where Reid's fingernails used to be. Every nail had been ripped from its bed, and the pink skin looked sensitive to touch. Rossi felt his stomach roll. The paramedics searched for a bullet hole in Reid's head just like Rossi did earlier, but there wasn't one. Rossi's best guess was that the unsubs shot at Reid, and the bullet just grazed the side of his head. That would explain all of the blood, and Reid could have easily passed out from fear alone or even just from the stress he was put through that night. He was badly dehydrated, and the poor kid was shivering from the cold. Rossi didn't know how long Reid was outside or why the kid's hair looked wet, but Rossi was getting ready to give Reid his shirt too. He kept reminding himself that Reid was safe now. The paramedics knew what they were doing, and Reid would be going home to his books soon enough.

Rossi's eyes skimmed over Reid's battered frame, but his attention kept going back to the torn up boxer shorts. Rossi was positive that Reid was ripping up his own boxers to use the cloth as bandages for Morgan. Rossi was proud that Reid would do something like that. It wasn't out of his character, and Rossi wanted to think that he would have done the same thing in that situation. They really were much more than just a team. They were best friends, a family, and they were going to be that for the rest of their lives. Rossi wasn't given much a chance to look over Reid's injuries in detail. He didn't want to be in the way of the paramedics, and those guys were working their butts off to help Reid so Rossi did try to keep his distance while keeping a hold of Reid's hand. Rossi didn't let go of his friend's hand until Reid was rolled into the operating room. That seemed like hours ago. Rossi was sure it hadn't been that long. It was still dark outside, and Prentiss came back with J.J. just about a half hour ago.

Garcia was sitting next to Prentiss with two stuffed animals on either side of her. Her face was streaked with tears. She wasn't even checking her phone like she usually did. She was staring off into space. Rossi hated seeing her like that, but there wasn't anything he could do to cheer her up. There was nothing he could do to even make himself feel better. All of the prayers were in those hospital rooms with Morgan and Reid. J.J. sat next to Rossi in their little circle in the waiting room. Her face was red too, but she wasn't crying. She was checking her phone, but that was probably to see where Hotch was. He was the only one from their team who wasn't there. Rossi knew he would be there as soon as he caught the unsubs and got those asses in jail.

J.J. was nearly asleep by the time the doctor finally came in. Rossi was having trouble keeping his eyes open too. The sun was starting to rise, but the hospital was quiet for the most part. That would be good for the new patients. Rossi was the first one on his feet when he saw the middle aged doctor approach them. He felt wide awake, and was more than ready to see Morgan and Reid again. The doctor was so busy staring down at his notes that he didn't see Rossi and the others until he nearly bumped into them. He took a step back, adjusted his glasses, and looked around at the team. The doctor was almost bald, with just a few gray hairs on the back of his head, and Rossi could just see his green eyes behind the glasses. There was intelligence in his eyes, but he probably never had surgery on a BAU member before.

"Agents?" the doctor asked timidly.

Rossi smiled. "Agent Rossi," he said extending his hand. The doctor shook it, and smiled back. "How are they? Did you work on all of them?"

"No," the doctor said. "But I do have some notes on the people brought here that I haven't formally met yet. Jenny Parker was the only woman checked in with the agents. She has multiple large bruises on her back and legs, and she was stabbed three times in her stomach. All of the stabbing wounds required stitching, but she was will make a full recovery. She could go home as soon as tomorrow. Her supervising doctor wants to keep her overnight to make sure none of the marks on her are infected. She is able to have visitors this morning."

"Her mother is on her way," J.J. said.

"Agent Reid was worked on by Doctor Santoro. He is missing all of the nails from his right hand. Santoro has the fingers bandaged up, but they should regrow on their own just fine. Three of his toes were broken on his left foot, and his right eye is badly swollen. He has large bruises over his calves, back, stomach, his right shoulder, and his thighs. His left shoulder blade was broken from blunt trauma to his back. Scalding on his knees and lower legs. Santoro stitched up five rather deep wounds from what he suspected came from a sharp kitchen knife on his stomach. His right shoulder also needed stitching. All of the wounds were exposed to the elements when he was buried alive, and Santoro did find dirt in the lungs. If he wasn't rescued when he was, this young man would have died. Santoro also wrote that he bandaged up the side of Agent Reid's head. There wasn't a bullet hole, but he was bleeding there pretty badly. There's evidence that your agent suffered from a concussion, and that he was sexually assaulted. No stitching was required for that injury, but it's going to be sensitive in that area for a while."

"He was raped?" Prentiss asked.

"No, no, no," Garcia mumbled, clutching one of the stuffed bears even tighter.

"Was Parker sexually assaulted as well?" Rossi asked. He didn't think rape was part of their profile. He couldn't remember the sheriff mentioning that to him.

"No, and neither was the agent I worked on," the doctor said. "But Dr. Walker, who was cleaning up Peter Boyle for his parents, noted that Boyle had also been sexually assaulted. He had identical bruising on his inner thighs as Agent Reid."

"Doubt it was from the same unsub," Rossi said. "They probably did it together."

"We don't know if the assault was from the same man yet, but we are currently running tests to see if the DNA matches up," the doctor said.

"Was an autopsy already done on Boyle then?" Prentiss asked.

"Not a full one," the doctor said. "Walker didn't have the time. He just did an initial exam while cleaning up the body. Walker noted the sexual assault, a missing finger, one of the boy's hands was broken..." The doctor turned one of his pages over. "Multiple surface wounds across his chest, stomach, and legs. Scalding on his knees and legs, almost exactly what Agent Reid through. They were put through the same kind of torture, but what Walker thinks ultimately killed the boy was the slitting of his throat."

Rossi nodded. They already knew that's what killed Boyle. "The stabbing wounds on his stomach area," Prentiss started. "Do we know if those would have proved fatal?"

The doctor flipped back to the previous page. "Like I said, the full autopsy hasn't been done yet, but from what I can see in these notes, I think they would have. The mark underneath the rib cage would have penetrated the liver, and the other two wounds dug deep into the intestines. There was a fourth attack right in the genital area. His penis was almost ripped in two. This boy would have bled out in minutes from any one of these injuries if he wasn't killed by the severing of the carotid artery in his throat. That killed him instantly. I don't think he could have been saved even if he was given immediate medical attention."

Rossi bowed his head. He didn't know how close Morgan and Reid might have gotten to this boy during their time together, but he imagined they were trying to protect the kid the best that they could. It was in their nature to protect people like Peter, but they couldn't. Rossi felt terrible.

"Agent Morgan was the only one that I personally worked on," the doctor said after no one had any comments about what happened to Peter Boyle. "His most serious injury was the open fracture on his left arm. I was surprised to see that it was relatively clean after seeing what this man has been through. Somebody cleaned off the wound and put a splint on it. I applaud whoever did that. It helped him a lot. Four of his toes were broken on his left foot, and he has a bullet wound to his right leg. He was also shot in the left shoulder. He suffered from some smoke inhalation, but he will make a full recovery. I didn't see any signs of sexual assault."

"So why just Reid and Boyle?" Prentiss asked.

"We probably won't see any signs of rape from the victims the unsubs tried to bury either," Rossi said. "This was a new thing they just wanted to try out on Reid and Boyle first."

"I don't know when Agent Reid will be up for visitors, but I'll allow all of you to see Agent Morgan later this afternoon. He's resting comfortably now. Room 304."

"Thank you doctor," J.J. said forcing a smile. "We didn't catch your name."

The doctor smiled back kindly. "Elliot. Joshua Elliot."

"Thank you Dr. Elliot," J.J. said.

Garcia collapsed back in her seat as soon as the doctor left. She was sobbing again, and J.J. hurried over to comfort her. "Who would do that to Morgan and Reid? Who?"

"Hotch is on his way," Prentiss said checking her phone.

"They caught the unsubs?" J.J. asked.

"No," Prentiss said. "Not yet. Hotch said the sheriff is still out there with a handful of officers and dogs, but they haven't found the unsubs. All they found was a gun belonging to either Morgan or Reid."

"It's still early," J.J. said. "The sun is coming out so they won't have the cover of darkness to hide in anymore."

Rossi sat down and put his face in his hands. Did the unsubs plan this? Rossi never saw the two murderers running out of the house when the authorities arrived. He never saw them at all. It was like this was their idea all along. The unsubs were planning for Morgan and Parker to be burned alive in that cabin destroying their lives along with all of the evidence of the murders. After they buried Reid, they would just disappear with the night. Morgan, Parker, and Reid were all rescued, but if they didn't find the unsubs soon, Rossi had a bad feeling that they never would.

"We can have the roads blocked off," Prentiss said. "All of the roads that lead out of the city can be blocked off. We are going to find these guys. The drawings of those two are still all over the news. They can't just get away."

"Morgan will be asking about them the second he wakes up," J.J. said.

"And if he doesn't think we found them, he's going to want to go out searching himself," Rossi concluded. Rossi could just picture Morgan out in the middle of forest in a wheelchair looking for the monsters that tried to kill him and Reid. That is something he would do, but it wouldn't be smart. That would be outright dangerous.

"We can't let him do that," Prentiss said.

"But we can't lie to him either," Garcia pointed out. "He's going to find out whether we tell him or not. He'll be hurt if we just lie to him."

"We'll just have to remind him that the sheriff is out there with the officers," Rossi said slowly. "He needs to stay here for Reid."

"The unsubs might be found though by the time he wakes up. It's still early, and if we can't see him until this afternoon, that's a few hours for the unsubs to be found and arrested," J.J. pointed out.

Rossi didn't know what else to say. It was going to be a hard task keeping Morgan away from the hunt for the unsubs, but his attention was drawn to breaking news on the television. He looked up at the screen, and saw the cabin that his friends were held in all night on fire. It looked like the reporters made it to the scene just before the firefighters got the blaze out. They wouldn't need any evidence lost in the fire to convict those guys, and in the long run, it was probably a good idea that the cabin was destroyed. Morgan and Reid didn't need any reminders of the torture they went through behind those walls.

* * *

Hotch felt sick that he couldn't catch the unsubs. He wanted to stay in that forest all damn day to find them. The state park was massive, but there was no way for two men in their 20s to avoid the detection of both of the police and the FBI. Hotch didn't think it was such a bad idea to start sending officers into the trees if they were able to withstand the heights. Hotch paused to look up at one of the foreboding trees behind him. It looked impossible to climb, but almost everything that happening during the night seemed impossible too. He was going to have to tell the sheriff to start searching the trees as well as the bushes and the nearby highways. They were going to catch the assholes that tried to kill Morgan and Reid.

He watched Calvin leave with J.J. to the hospital, but Hotch was going to stay behind a little bit longer. He was hoping against hope that the sheriff was going to call him and tell him that they corned the two unsubs. Hotch went through the backyard where the bodies were still just partially uncovered. Tatiana Garland. Sarah Nelson. An unidentified male and a bag of their belongings was all that was left. He circled to the front of the cabin, and found an officer standing near the fire trucks with a note pad.

"There's bodies of some victims in the back yard," Hotch told the younger man. "We are going to need a photographer out here to document this."

"He's already on his way," the officer said. "Have all of the missing been found then?"

Hotch thought back. "Both of my agents are recovering at the hospital along with Jenny Parker. The bodies out back haven't been identified yet, but they match the descriptions of Tatiana Garland and Sarah Nelson. There is a third body buried with them. It's a male, and if I had to guess, I'd say it was the boyfriend of Garland. And…Peter Boyle was found in the cabin."

"Is he still in there now?" the officer asked.

"No," Hotch said. "He's at the hospital right now with his father. They haven't done an autopsy on him yet, but I'd like one done on him and all of the victims in the back yard. The families will need to be notified soon." Hotch never liked to keep parents waiting, and every single one of them had a family that was praying for a miracle that was never going to come. "Let me know if you hear anything from the sheriff."

The officer nodded, but Hotch didn't notice. His attention was drawn to the car parked near the front door of the ruined cabin. The front of it was black from smoke damage, but this was the white sedan Hotch remembered watching from the footage. This was the car that Morgan, Reid, and probably Boyle were abducted in. Hotch put some gloves over his hands and went over to the car. He didn't think the police would find any fingerprints in it from the unsubs. The white gloves they wore was something that stuck out to Hotch in their profile. They didn't want to leave any traces behind.

There wasn't anything in the backseat. It was empty, but he saw a dark smudge on one of the floor mats that he suspected to be blood. He didn't see any shoes, wallets, or phones. None of that was taken with the abductions. The only sign that the victims were ever in that car was the blood stain. Hotch turned his focus to the front seat. He couldn't find any notes that the unsubs might have dropped underneath the seats. There wasn't any evidence at all that anyone other than the owner was ever in this car. Hotch did find the car's insurance in the glove department, and saw the car was owned by Tatiana Garland.

Hotch wouldn't be able to go into the cabin, and map out what happened in there. All he had to go on was this car, and the words of the survivors. Hotch was pretty sure the unsubs found Tatiana in the cabin, and after they locked her up, they stole her car to look more victims. He just couldn't figure out how they got away so fast or how they knew the police were coming. They were so careful to be quiet. The police didn't use their sirens, and Hotch actually walked part of the way on foot so no one could hear him coming. What tipped the unsubs off? How could they get as far as they did on foot? Hotch slammed the door shut. He needed to get to the hospital. He wanted to see Morgan and Reid. He just didn't want to be the one to tell them that the people who hurt them still weren't caught. He pulled his phone out to let Prentiss know that he was on his way, and he told her with reluctance that the unsubs were still on the run. He would come back later to help on the search if the sheriff hadn't found them by lunch time. The murderers weren't going to be able to hide forever.

* * *

J.J. found herself wandering around the hospital after the unsettling news from the doctor. She was eternally grateful that Morgan and Reid were going to make it through this, but she wasn't prepared to hear about the sexual assault against the baby of their close knit team. She studied every detail that she could about the unsubs, but rape never came up once in the profiles. Not once. Maybe if it had, she could have been better ready to hear about the news, but she wasn't. It felt like a blow to her face. She felt like curling up in a ball and crying, but she couldn't. She needed to stay strong and be the brave face that Reid needed to see. Walking around distracted her from the horrors of reality, but when Hotch showed up with the news that the unsubs were still out on the loose, her spirit just sank. She didn't know why, but she was sure those jerks would be caught by the time Hotch got to the hospital. She was wrong. Hotch went into the waiting room to be with the rest of the team, but she decided to just keep walking.

A woman's shouting broke J.J. out of her solemn daydreams. J.J. walked towards the source of the scream, and saw Boyle's mother pushing her way through concerned nurses and doctors to find her husband. Mr. Boyle was just coming out of the room that his son was in. He wiped away any tears that were still on his face, and his wife just started screaming when she saw him.

"Where is he?" she screamed. "Where is my baby?" J.J. noticed the woman managed to put a dress on, but she wore her bathrobe over the dress and her hair hadn't seen a brush in over a day. J.J. couldn't blame her though. J.J. couldn't imagine losing her son. She didn't even want to think about it. The devastated woman had her fists against her husband's chest, but she wasn't hitting him very hard. Her husband didn't recoil. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to was sobbing. "Please let me see him. Please let me see my baby boy. Please."

"Melissa, just stop," her husband told her. "He's right in here."

She pushed her way to the door, and ran inside the room with her husband right behind her. J.J. only counted a few seconds go by before she heard the most heart breaking scream she had heard in a long time. J.J. hung her head down. There was nothing she could to bring this woman's son back or to take away the horrors that Morgan and Reid went through. They were all just going to have to learn to get through this together. Calvin was still standing awkwardly by the door. He didn't seem sure if he should go in after them or let them have their peace, but Peter's mother was just bawling. J.J. felt terrible.

J.J. turned around to get back to the waiting room. She felt better sitting with the team than listening to Mrs. Boyle. She turned to her left, but the first thing she saw was Boyle's little sister standing calmly in the hallway. She was still in her pajamas, pink and purple ones decorated with tiny flowers, and her brown hair was tangled on the back of her head. She was clinging onto the doll that J.J. remembered from last night, and she was holding some kind of handmade card in her other hand. She looked exhausted, but she heard her mother's howls.

"Is Peter not coming back?" Clara asked after a moment went by. Her green eyes were nearly identical to Peter's eyes in photographs. The child wasn't crying, but she wasn't far from it.

"I'm so sorry honey," J.J. said taking a step forward. She got on her knees to be level with the little girl. Clara was keeping her composure a lot better than either one of her parents were.

"But we're at the hospital," Clara said handing the card to J.J. "I'm sure the doctors can make him all better. Right?" The card was made out of pink construction paper. There was a big red heart drawn on the front of it with 'Petey Get Better' written in the middle of it. If J.J. could ever feel any worse than she did earlier, this was it. J.J. didn't open the card. Whatever that child wrote in the card to her big brother was meant for his eyes only.

"The doctors can't make him better sweetie," J.J. said slowly. "Not this time. We tried our hardest, but he's gone. We can't bring him back."

Clara's eyes were finally swelling with tears. The innocence that all children had was breaking inside of Clara. She was never going to be the same again, and J.J. prayed to God that the Boyles were strong enough to help their daughter. She needed them now more than ever. There was true evil in this world, and Clara had to find this out earlier than most.

"But why not? What's wrong with him? Let me see him!" Clara flung her arms around J.J. Tears were rolling down her face, and all J.J. could do was hold her tight. "Let me see Petey. Please let me see him. Maybe he'll get better if he sees me."

J.J. looked up at Calvin. It wouldn't be a good time for Clara to see Peter. Their mother sounded like she was planning on being in there a while. It probably wasn't a good idea for Clara to hear her mother screaming like that. "Can we go on a walk first?" J.J. asked. "I want for you to meet my friends. I know one of them will just love your doll. Is it an American Girl?'

Clara pulled away from the hug, and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Yes. Her name is Samantha. Mom thought she looked like me except for the eyes. Can I still give Petey my card later? I made it last night before mom made me go to bed."

"Of course you can honey," J.J. said. She got to her feet, and took a firm hold of Clara's hand. J.J. nodded at Calvin as he went into the room with the Boyles, and J.J. led Clara away from the sorrow. It wasn't much better in the rest of the hospital, but at least no one was crying in the front room. J.J. took the main entrance back into the waiting room, and found her team still just sitting in there.

Hotch was sitting next to Prentiss. Both of them had their eyes glued to his phone. Maybe they got some good news like the sheriff caught the unsubs hiding out in a tree. J.J. couldn't wait to ask them the good news, but she would have to wait. Rossi was sitting next to Garcia drinking a cup of coffee, and Garcia was staring at the television screen until she saw J.J. and Clara. Garcia grabbed one of the teddy bears and hurried over to them. Clara took an uncertain step behind J.J. when Garcia offered the stuffed animal over to her.

"Clara, I'd like to introduce you to Penelope Garcia," J.J. said. "She is one of my best friends."

Clara smiled gently, and took the bear that Garcia was still holding out. Rossi set his coffee down, and walked over to see the little girl. "I'm David Rossi," he told her. "I like your doll. What's her name?"

"Samantha," Clara said. "I didn't name her though. She came with that name."

"She looks like a Samantha though. Don't you think?" Rossi asked.

"I think so," Clara said. She held the stuffed bear in one arm, and her doll in the other. The card was stuffed inside the doll's dress. J.J. was sure that Rossi and Garcia saw it.

"Clara came with her mother," J.J. told them. She didn't need to go into any of the details. All of them understood perfectly. "But I was thinking that Clara might want to have some pancakes for breakfast. Or waffles. I always liked waffles better."

"I'm not hungry," Clara said. "I'm ready to see Peter."

"Could you help me get some hot chocolate first?" Garcia asked. "I know that's not like a breakfast food, but I love something really warm to drink on cold mornings. I always add extra whip cream, and maybe I could look at your doll. I never had a doll like her before."

"I like hot chocolate," Clara said slowly. "Can you tell my mom and dad where I am? I'll come right back after. I promise."

"Of course we will," J.J. said. J.J. was glad that Garcia was distracting Clara, and hot chocolate really didn't sound like that bad of an idea, but she'd rather hear what Prentiss and Hotch were looking at on the phone.

"We'll be back in a jiffy," Garcia said. Clara handed the doll to Garcia to look at, and Garcia was already examining the doll on the way to the cafeteria. "Do you have any idea what you will name your bear yet?"

J.J. turned back to the team as soon as Garcia was out of sight. "I couldn't just leave her there. Her mother was screaming. It's like she totally forgot she had her daughter there."

"We heard," Prentiss said. "Pretty sure the entire hospital heard."

"They have a long road ahead," J.J. said. "Did you guys find out anything? Did you hear from the sheriff?" J.J. sat down next to Prentiss, and Rossi walked over to join them.

"They haven't caught the unsubs yet, but a store clerk saw two men matching their description in his shop this morning," Hotch said.

"Oh my God," J.J. said. "Did he stop them? What were they trying to buy?"

"He didn't realize they were wanted criminals until they were gone," Prentiss said. "But he did catch them on camera, and the sheriff just sent us the stills. It is them." She handed J.J. the phone, and J.J. stared down at the two men that almost killed two of her best friends. There was no denying that the two men in the still were the unsubs. They were wearing identical white shirts, black pants, and the now infamous white gloves. She couldn't get a clear look at their faces, but the younger one looked tired. He was eating a corndog while his partner was holding what looked like a cup of coffee. They didn't look worried at all. They just looked like a pair of brothers enjoying an early morning breakfast.

"The store clerk did say though that the unsubs weren't using a car," Hotch said. "They were just walking, and they paid with cash. The sheriff already has officers combing the area. He said he'll be there shortly with some dogs. They aren't far from catching these guys."

"How far was the gas station from the cabin?" Rossi asked.

"Finding out now," Hotch said.

"Can't figure out how they evaded the police this far to actually make it to a gas station," Prentiss said. "These guys really know what they were doing."

"They aren't going to get much further," Hotch said with confidence. "The sheriff has every available officer looking for these guys."

"Agents?" J.J. turned around and saw Dr. Elliot. She was so into their conversation that she never noticed the doctor sneak up behind them. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Yes?" Hotch asked standing up. J.J. stood up behind him followed by Prentiss. They were all worried that something might have happened. Maybe some kind of infection spread in Reid or Morgan broke more bones than the doctors previously thought.

"Agent Morgan woke up earlier than I thought he would," Elliot said. "He won't calm down. He's been asking to see you. I was just going to have him sleep more, but he sounds desperate. Would you come see him? Just please don't excite him. That's probably harder than it sounds, but try your best. Try to remember what he's just been through."

"Of course," Prentiss said. "Room 304, right?"

"Yes," Elliot said. "Take the elevator to the third floor, and it's the second room to the right. We have Agent Reid just across the hallway in Room 303. We thought it would be a good idea to have them next to each other. I imagine they will be visiting each other a lot when they are able to."

"Thank you so much doctor," J.J. said. She shook hands with him as Hotch led the way to the elevators. J.J. pulled out her phone to text Garcia where they were going. She could just picture Garcia coming back to an empty waiting room and freaking out. J.J. would never do something like to that in this kind of situation. J.J. was scared of what Morgan was going to tell them. She didn't know if she could handle any more details about what happened to them, and she knew Morgan was going to ask which jail the unsubs were in. She wouldn't know what to tell him.

* * *

Morgan's heart was pounding. Nothing he could tell himself was calming his nerves. He didn't mean to scare that nurse, but why wasn't the team there? The doctors weren't telling him crap, and he got the one room in the entire hospital with the television that wasn't working. He wasn't going to let any damn doctor or nurse put anything else into that IV until he talked to the team. He couldn't remember anything. Every single memory he found was a jumbled up mess. The cabin was on fire. Those sons of bitches lit the cabin on fire after they took Reid outside. He remembered smelling smoke. The smoke was getting in his eyes and making him tear up, and the heat was warm against his back. What happened after that though? His memories just went fuzzy, and he couldn't stand that. Did they find Reid?

There wasn't even a wheelchair in his room. His nurses were so thoughtful. The sun was just starting to peep through his window. The sun didn't have to see the hell that he went through last night. He turned away from the sun and swung his legs over the side the bed. A cast took over most of his arm, and he had a thick bandage wrapped around his leg. It didn't hurt as bad as he thought it should. He probably had pain medication in the IV or something, but that wasn't going to stop him from getting up. He was sure he could still walk. It didn't matter if he got the stitches out or not. Nothing mattered except for finding Reid. He wasn't sure if he could even find out where the damned cabin was, but he was going to try.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Rossi asked. Rossi and Hotch hurried through the slightly opened door, and Rossi was at his side in seconds. Rossi put his arms gently on Morgan's shoulders, and tried pushing him back on the bed.

"Let me go!" Morgan shouted. "We've gotta get Reid now. Those guys took him in the backyard, and Reid wasn't awake. They shot him. We have to go now!"

"Calm down," J.J. said hurrying to Morgan's other side.

"He's safe," Hotch said. "We found him when you told us. You don't remember?"

"No," Morgan said. He could finally breathe. Reid was safe. "When did I tell you?"

"When you were getting out of the cabin with Jenny Parker," Rossi said. Morgan relented a little, and allowed Rossi to help him back on the bed. His arm was stinging, but it wasn't too bad. He wasn't going to tell the team. "She's safe too."

"Last thing I remember was the smoke," Morgan said. "Anthony and Michael must have set it right after they took Reid outside. Was he shot in the head?"

"No," Prentiss told him. "The bullet just grazed the side of his head. That was lucky. He's going to be just fine."

"What about the cabin? Was it destroyed from the fire?" Morgan asked. The bastards were trying to destroy the evidence of what they did, but Morgan didn't need any evidence to convict their asses. He wanted to watch them burn.

"It's a total lost," Hotch said.

"But we did get Peter Boyle out," Prentiss said. "We found him in the den before the roof collapsed. His father was with us for most of the night so I felt it was only right to bring him back his son."

Morgan looked back out the window at the sunrise that Peter would never see. "I'm sure this is bound to come up during their trial which is something those two don't deserve, but they didn't physically kill Peter. I mean, I know that won't mean anything since they are the only reason that Peter died, but it wasn't by their hands. Jenny did it."

"Jenny Parker killed Peter?" Hotch asked. J.J. took a seat next to Rossi across from the bed, but Hotch kept his place near the television. Garcia wasn't anywhere in sight though which was odd for her. He was sure she'd be the first one to see him.

"It was an accident," Morgan said. He didn't know if this was the time or place to be discussing details of the case, but he wanted them to know before Anthony and Michael had their chance to make a statement. "We didn't even know Jenny was there. They kept her in another room. Reid and Peter went out of the den to look for a phone. According to Jenny, Peter did reach the phone and he made the phone call, but she attacked him on the way out."

"She thought he was one of the unsubs," Prentiss said.

"When Reid found the kid, he was almost dead already," Morgan said. He felt like crying. He never should have allowed Peter out of the room. The boy didn't want to go, but Morgan pressured him into it anyway. He was partially to blame. "He was going to bleed out. I wasn't there so I don't know details, but Peter asked Reid to end his life. Reid was the one who slit his throat. I kept telling Reid that I would have done the same thing, but Reid wasn't taking it very well. Both of us liked Peter."

"An autopsy hasn't been done on him yet or the others we found in the backyard. I think they are still removing the bodies back at the cabin," Prentiss said. "It was me and J.J. that got Peter out. I didn't get a good look at the injuries, but I agree with you. He would have bled to death."

Morgan nodded. He couldn't remember his grand escape from the cabin, but he remembered all of the blood and grievous injuries to both Peter and Reid. "Just don't mention it to Reid. I mean, he might mention it later, but…The kid has been through a lot," Morgan concluded. Morgan didn't even want to think of what happened to Reid, and there was no way in hell he was going to tell the others about the rape. They were going to find out sooner or later, but it wasn't going to be from Morgan. At least, not now. Morgan wasn't going to dare relive it. "Did the asses try to fight you guys when you arrested them?" Morgan needed to hear some good news. He wanted for Hotch to say Anthony and Michael were crying like babies in the back of a cop car.

Morgan noticed something was wrong immediately. J.J. was looking down, and Rossi was looking over at Hotch to see what he would say, but even Hotch kept his mouth closed. Morgan swung his legs back over the bed. Garcia still wasn't there with him. It didn't seem like her to go out to location with them, but what if she did? What if she wanted to help rescue them? What if something went wrong? Did she get caught in the crossfire? His heart sped up again. "Where is Garcia? Is she alright? If you don't tell me right now, I'm getting the hell out of this hospital."

"She's fine," J.J. said standing up. She tried to help Morgan get back in the bed, but he resisted her nudges.

"She ran into Peter Boyle's little sister downstairs," Rossi said. "I think they are still eating breakfast together. Her parents are with Peter."

Morgan calmed down a little. That explained where Garcia was, but why weren't they talking about the murderers? "What about Anthony and Michael? I doubt that their real names, but that's what they were calling themselves all night. Did they fight back when you found them? I can see Anthony fighting to the death. I don't know if Michael would, but neither one of them are sane."

Hotch stepped away from the wall and walked up the foot of Morgan's bed. Garcia was safe, but something was definitely wrong. "They aren't in custody yet," Hotch finally said.

"What?" Morgan shouted. He didn't mean to get so damn loud, but how the hell did those two get away? It didn't make any sense.

"We never saw them," Rossi said. "When we got there, the house was burning down and we found all of you outside already. Well, mostly outside. You got to the doorway."

"One of the officers thought he saw some people running in the woods," Prentiss continued. "So the sheriff was out there, and he brought dogs to help sniff them out."

"We did find evidence that those guys were out there," Hotch said. "We haven't found them yet, but the sheriff is still looking with every available officer he has. Those guys aren't getting away."

"They already did," Morgan mumbled. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. Morgan was trying to figure out their time frame in his head, but it wasn't working. How long did it take for him and Jenny to leave the house? It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but Hotch and the team were probably already outside before Morgan fled the cabin. Even if Anthony and Michael knew the woods, how could they have slipped away so easily?

"Their names are Anthony and Michael?" Rossi asked.

"That's what they called themselves. I mean, I don't think those were the real names. They might have been brothers. They had similar looking eyes, but I don't know. They never talked that much about themselves. Or why they were doing what they did. Anthony was the older one."

"We think everyone that was abducted was just a victim of opportunity," Prentiss said. "They never had any particular victim in mind. Did they tell you what they wanted?"

Morgan thought back. "No. I mean, we didn't even know Jenny was there until much later. When we first got there, we saw the body underneath the television stand. Think her name was Tatiana or something, and we figured out that it was her cabin. Or her family's cabin or something, but she was already dead. And then they killed another woman that was abducted with us right off the bat. They shot her in the head because she picked a wrong number."

"They didn't say anything else?" Hotch asked.

"They wanted to make a bet with us," Morgan said. "They bet that we would be dead by morning and we were supposed to bet that we would be alive. They've been doing this a while, haven't they?" Morgan did think it was weird both of the unsubs were gone before morning. It was like they already knew the team was coming.

"We think they have," Rossi said. "The sheriff noted similarities between this case and another one a little while back. The last time, they only recovered one of the bodies."

"Did they take the car?" Morgan asked. He remembered they were taken in a car that didn't belong to them. He still didn't know whose car it was, but that could make for a clean getaway. All the police needed was the license plate. They might find the car abandoned later on, but they were never going to get fingerprints till the guys were caught. Morgan never once saw them without their white gloves.

"The car was still in the driveway," Hotch said. "They didn't leave anything in it. If they took anything with them when they took over the cabin, it was lost in the fire."

"I doubt they took anything with them. I mean, everything they used was just crap they could find around the house. Except the gun. That gun was mine."

"They picked a random house and used what they could find," Prentiss concluded.

"The sheriff is blocking of all roads," J.J. said. "They aren't going to get very far. Their pictures are all over the news."

"So you found a witness? Those pictures were really good," Morgan said.

"She didn't come forward until later on in the evening, but she helped with what she could," Prentiss said.

Morgan would have liked to meet her and thank her for her help. If the police did catch those bastards, it would be partially from her drawings. Those were only way the cops knew who to look for, but it one thing was still bugging him. "I still don't know why those guys left when they did. I mean, they acted like they were going to keep us till like 9am. You guys didn't have your sirens on or anything?"

"No," Rossi said. "We walked part of the way on foot just so they wouldn't hear us."

"Jenny said she heard them talking outside, but then they just stopped. We left the house a few minutes later when we smelled the smoke. I mean, I don't think they heard anything and I'm positive they wanted to come back inside and drag the torture out, but they didn't. They just left. How the hell did they know?"

"Agent Morgan?"

Morgan looked over at the doorway, expecting to see some nurse or doctor begging him to lie down, and saw Jenny Parker. She was in her hospital gown with the fashionable hospital socks around her feet. Her hair was brushed back, and her face was washed, but she still looked worn out. She was holding a vase of tulips in her hands, and as she walked further into the room, she held the vase out for him.

"These are for you," she said smiling. "I'll just put them on the table for you since your arm…It would be funny if I gave them to you and you dropped them. Someone had them in my room for me, but I think you deserve them more. I mean, without you, I'd probably be dead from burning or breathing in that smoke or something."

"Getting out of that cabin was teamwork," Morgan said. "I couldn't have gotten out of there with your help."

Jenny looked around the room at the rest of Morgan's team. She didn't seem bothered at all that they were there. "I'm really sorry for the way I acted. I mean, I acted like a real idiot in there. I keep reliving all the stupid stuff I did and said, and I feel really bad. My mom is on her way here, and so I just decided to see if you were awake so I could apologize. I normally don't act like that. I swear I don't so I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't think any of us acted like ourselves back there. We were under a lot of stress so it's totally fine."

"Well, thank you." She looked around and found Hotch and Rossi. "Are you guys going to find the bad guys? I saw on the news they are on the run."

Jenny knew before he did that the unsubs were gone. He needed another room with a working television. He had to remember to tell the doctor. "We are working on it," Rossi told her.

She was satisfied with that answer and turned to leave. As she was stepping out of the doorway, she turned back around and looked at Morgan. "You don't think they will come looking for us, right? I mean, we know that they got away. Do you think they know we survived?"

Morgan didn't think of that. He didn't know if Anthony and Michael were the types that would go after survivors, but he was positive they would find out who survived. He kept reminding himself that they were completely safe. Anthony and Michael know that Reid and Morgan worked for the FBI. They would have to be complete fools to go after them now, but none of this was going to be easy to tell Reid. Morgan wasn't even completely positive that the unsubs wouldn't try to finish their deadly game at a later date, and that terrified him.

"We're going to find them," Rossi said. "Don't worry. They can't hide forever." If Morgan wanted to, he was sure he could argue with that statement and probably win. He didn't want to.

* * *

It was a beautiful sunrise. It was one that Anthony was going to remember for a long time because this was the first time in the history of his games that someone survived, and it wasn't just one person. According to the local media, three people were taken to the hospital. The only three that could have been was Agent Derek Morgan, Agent Spencer Reid, and Jenny Parker. How could he have been so careless? He could have sworn that bullet went through Reid's head. It was impossible to survive an injury like that, but he did.

"You're going to get fat if you keep eating those corndogs for every meal," Anthony told Michael who was munching away on more processed food junk.

"You're not the boss of me," Michael said. He took another big bite and chewed loudly just to annoy Anthony.

Anthony didn't know where they were going next, but he had to decide quickly. He already saw at least two police cars combing the area. He was lucky to have evaded capture for this long. If he had to do it over again, he probably wouldn't have chosen two FBI agents as his targets. That was a mistake. He hadn't seen so many cop cars in his entire life. It was crazy how much attention from the authorities he got just from taking two useless agents. He only had himself to blame. He should have lit the cabin on fire sooner, and he should have buried Reid even deeper. Anthony learned from his mistakes, and he wasn't going to let that happen again. He would have plenty of other people to choose from, but the time to go looking wasn't now. He needed to disappear. They needed to disappear.

After they got Michael's must needed crap for breakfast, Anthony led them through the twists and turns of the back roads that led to the highway. It was freezing outside, and his constant motion wasn't do anything to help keep him warm. He needed to find a jacket. He was stupid not to take one from the closet before he left, but no use crying over spilled milk. What's done was done. He couldn't keep dwelling on the past if he wanted to get out of this mess.

"Don't you ever eat?" Michael asked. He finally finished the corndog and threw the stick into a nearby bush. They were never going to find that stick, but if the FBI or the cops did come upon it, there wouldn't be a fingerprint to be found.

"Not hungry," Anthony said. That much was true. He wasn't a big eater. "Red or blue?" Two cars were cruising down the highway going in opposite directions. Anthony didn't care which one Michael would choose.

"Let's do blue this time," Michael said. Michael didn't have to be told what to do next. He walked out to the edge of the grassy trail and stuck his thumb out. The driver wasn't going to be their next victim. It was a possibility, yes. Everyone was a possibility, but the driver wasn't going to be the intended target. The driver only had one thing Anthony needed, and that was the shiny vehicle the elderly woman was driving. She must have felt sorry for Michael when she pulled over to the side of the road. Michael approached the car with caution like he always did. Anthony stayed nearby hiding beneath a bush.

"Good morning ma'am," Michael said with the upmost curiosity. He peered around the car to spot any other passengers, and sent Anthony a thumbs up when he saw it was just the woman with her border collie in the back seat. "I am so sorry to disturb you. I hope you weren't in a hurry."

"My sister is sick," the woman told Michael. "I was going to take a plane, but I never trusted those things. There's just so many scary stories about those flying contraptions crashing. I'd rather trust my luck in my car. She hasn't let me down yet. It's not that long of a drive. My sister lives in North Carolina. Were you needing a ride somewhere young man?"

"Raleigh actually, ma'am. My uncle has a job waiting for me and my brother over there. We've just never been able to afford a car. Hopefully, all of that will change with our new jobs."

"Brother?"

Anthony didn't miss his cue. He slowly emerged from the bushes with disheveled hair and dirt on his face. He put his hands behind his back and took his place next to his "brother".

"Hello ma'am. I'm sorry I didn't come out earlier. I was trying to clean up a little. My little brother and I have been walking for a while." The black and white border collie growled under its breath when it saw Anthony.

"Oh my dear. You look like a mess! Your uncle couldn't give you a ride?"

"He couldn't leave the farm for that long," Michael explained. Anthony had to hand the props over to Michael. The younger man came up with the best stories in a moment's notice. That was more skill than Anthony had in that department.

"Come in the car," the woman said. "You two must be freezing." Michael took the front seat next to their new companion. Anthony sat in the back seat next to the still growling dog, and was pleasantly surprised to find two suitcases. He was sure there was something in there he could use as a weapon. The elderly woman also had several blankets, pillows, and two dolls next to Anthony. "I always thought the sheets and blankets in hotel rooms were covered in germs. I usually bring my own stuff, but feel free to use them. You boys certainly need the warmth, and I'll turn on the heater. I don't want either one of you getting sick."

Anthony tossed one of the blankets in the front seat. Michael promptly put it on. It was a chilly morning, and Anthony took one of the blankets for himself. He would explore the suitcases later. The dog was going to be a problem. He could just feel it. The dog was keeping his distance away from Anthony, but Anthony felt the dog's eyes just staring at him. "You are too kind ma'am," Michael said.

"You can call me Dorothy, and the furry cutie is named Bandit. He's been my best buddy since my husband died three years ago. What are your names?"

"I'm Anthony, and this is my little brother Michael," Anthony said. Dorothy started up the car, and they were on their way to freedom.

"Well Anthony and Michael, were either one of you boys hungry?" Dorothy asked. "I was just going to go through a drive thru somewhere to get some breakfast. I certainly wouldn't mind getting you guys something as well."

"Thank you so much Dorothy," Michael said. "I haven't had anything to eat in a while. We've been walking a lot. Sooner we get to Raleigh, sooner we can start working."

Of course Michael would say that he was hungry. That wasn't anything new. Anthony wouldn't mind getting some food either. "Thank you ma'am," Anthony said. The dog growled at him again. Most animals didn't like him. They usually sensed something about him that most people didn't. He didn't care if Bandit didn't like him. He didn't like Bandit either. Anthony didn't like to make predictions. He didn't like to ruin any surprises in his games, but he predicted that this border collie wasn't going to be alive by the time they reached Raleigh.

"Alright. We can pull over at the next stop I see. I'll get you boys fed, and then we will be on our way. I'm sure Bandit wouldn't mind getting a little bit of sausage either."

Anthony was sure that the dumb dog did like his meat. He wrapped his blanket around his legs, and stared right back at the annoying animal. Bandit was the one who broke eye contact first. He was going to just love murdering this dog, but he wasn't going to think about that now. He needed to make sure that he got safely out of this state with Michael. The BAU was probably going to search neighboring states if they could, but he had a good feeling they were going to get out of this state with no problems. He was looking forward to it. The sun continued rising higher in the sky, and Anthony settled into his seat. The warm air felt good on his skin, and nothing could dampen his spirits. He would think about finishing what he started once he arrived in Raleigh. Right now, the only thing on his mind was breakfast. He was hungrier than he thought.

* * *

Reid couldn't remember getting rescued. He couldn't remember getting buried, and he couldn't remember getting shot. Everything that happened to him was coming back to him in bits and pieces. Those small pieces of memories though were nothing more than nightmares. They terrified him, and sent his heart racing. The stabbings. The fingernails. The rape. He was raped. He would never be able to forget that. All the drugs in the world couldn't take that away from him, and he was raped in front of Morgan. One of his best friends saw him getting raped by some psychopath. Reid felt nauseated just thinking about it. He kept fading in and out of consciousness, but he didn't want to wake up. He didn't want to remember all of the grisly details of the night before. He wanted to keep sleeping until he forgot everything, but where was he? It felt like he was in a bed. He felt sheets covering up his legs, and his legs felt bandaged up. Did Morgan do that? Did Morgan find him? He knew he wasn't in the den anymore, but that's as far as his memories got. What if it wasn't Morgan who put him in the bed? What if it was the unsubs? What if this was some new kind of game?

Weakly, Reid opened his eyes. He needed to know where he was. He was in a bed with white sheets, and an IV was connected to his arm. He wasn't in the cabin anymore. He was in a hospital. How in the world did he get there? The hand with the missing fingernails had a bandage around it, and he could feel one wrapped around his head. It was obvious someone found him. He was rescued, but where was Morgan? Where was Jenny? He forced himself into a sitting position, and a sharp pain shot across his head. This was the worst headache of his life.

"Hello?" he called out. His voice sounded terrible, and every time he tried to move, he just felt worse. The headache wasn't going away, and he felt a burning sensation in between his legs. He knew what that pain was from.

"Spence?" a familiar voice asked. J.J. opened up his door, and she ran to his bed side when she saw him sitting up. "Oh my God, Spence. Why are you sitting up?" She hugged him lightly, and he felt safe. He couldn't believe he was seeing her again.

"What happened?" Reid asked. He felt so sleepy. That had to be from the pain medication that he probably needed more of.

"Reid?" Rossi asked. "He's awake guys." Rossi came in from the hallway followed by Prentiss and Hotch. Reid didn't see Garcia or Morgan anywhere.

"You're at the hospital. It's okay now," J.J. said. He allowed her to help him back into the bed. He felt a lot better once his head touched the soft pillow. "You're going to be okay Spence."

"Where's Morgan? And Jenny?" Reid couldn't go back to sleep until he knew where they were.

"His room is right next to yours," Rossi said. "And Jenny is already walking around. Did you really think we would just leave you at the cabin? Everything is going to be alright now."

Reid nodded. If they took him to the hospital, the doctor already talked to them. Reid's team already knew what happened to him. If he didn't feel so tired, he would probably be embarrassed. The team already babied him, but now they were going to watch over him like a hawk. He didn't want that.

"Anthony and Michael are in jail?" Reid asked. He hated how hoarse his voice sounded.

"We can talk about that later," Hotch said.

"You need to sleep," Prentiss said. "You've been through a lot. We will all be here when you wake up. Morgan is sleeping too."

Reid didn't want to go to sleep. The sun was shining bright behind the curtains of his room, and he had more questions than he was sure the team could even answer. The team didn't have Anthony and Michael though. He knew that much. If they did, they would be more than willing to give him the details of their capture. Reid could just tell by the way his team was looking at him. There was sadness in their eyes. Why didn't they just tell him? It wasn't going to be any easier on them later on.

"Can you track them down?" Reid pestered on. He couldn't sleep until he had some kind of answer.

"The police has every officer they can spare looking for them," Hotch finally said. "There was a sighting of them at a gas station. We're going to find them."

"I don't think they're brothers," Reid heard himself saying. He didn't know why the team should know this, but that's what he said. Anthony and Michael might not have been brothers, but Reid couldn't seem them separating. If one of them was killed or gave up the murderous spree, the other one wouldn't be able to continue. Michael wouldn't have the skill or determination to pull it off, and for some reason, Anthony needed Michael. If Anthony wanted to, he could keep on killing people until he was caught or he died, but he wouldn't do it without Michael. If they wanted to catch them and stop the murders, they needed to get Michael. He would be easier to catch, and Anthony couldn't stay far from his best buddy.

"Probably not," Prentiss said.

"But they will be together when we find them," Rossi said.

Reid nodded. "If you only have the chance to get one of them, try to get Michael. He's the younger of the two. I think Anthony will come once you get Michael."

"Reid!" Garcia shouted. She ran over to him as fast as she could in her blue heels. She bent over, and hugged him. She was crying, but Reid barely noticed. He was just so tired. Garcia put a teddy bear next to Reid's pillow, and stepped back with the others. "Is he awake?" she whispered.

Reid hadn't noticed that he closed his eyes. Reid didn't like this. He didn't like not being in control of his own body. He wanted to stay awake, but he couldn't fight it anymore. His muscles were relaxing and he felt his mind start to drift away. "He was awake," J.J. told Garcia.

"He needs to sleep," Rossi said. His voice sounded so far away. He didn't want the doctors giving him that much pain medication. He was sure he needed it, but he didn't trust himself with it. His friends would be there for him though. He knew that much. They would be there when he woke up, and they would be there to help him get through this. He loved all of them. He hoped they knew that.

* * *

It was a cold and rainy day when Peter was buried. Morgan thought the weather was fitting for the already gloomy event. Morgan and Reid paid for the entire funeral. Reid bought the kid a nice suit to wear, and Morgan paid for the plot and the casket. He let the parents pick out the casket, but Morgan chose the nice plot of land beneath an oak tree for his grave. The cemetery gave a discount. They felt terrible for what happened, and offered large discounts to all of the victims of the brothers. Morgan was released from the hospital three days after they were rescued. Reid was released the day after that. They were lucky enough to not have any of their numerous scars develop any infections, but it was only after they were out of the hospital that they saw the true horrors of the night. Tatiana's parents and older sister were in complete shock when they found out their family cabin was destroyed and their daughter was murdered. Her autopsy showed that she had been dead for less than an hour when Morgan and the others were abducted. She bled to death in that cabin without ever knowing what was going on. She was planning a romantic weekend with her boyfriend when the unsubs ended her life, and the life of her devoted boyfriend. Jenny Parker should have been met with the same fate. She had similar wounds, but none of hers were as deep. Jenny told her interviewers that Michael was the one who attacked her, and he wasn't as violent as Anthony was. His cuts weren't as deep as Anthony's were, and that was the only reason Jenny survived when Tatiana did not.

Sarah Nelson's mother was meeting with the team every single day for any news from the unsubs. She was doing her own research when she wasn't with the FBI or the police, and she found three other cases that were almost identical to what her daughter went through. The strategies were always the same. The abductions took place at night, and the victims were always dead by morning or presumed dead. It was rare to find the bodies so Ms. Nelson thanked God every day for getting her daughter's body back. The only known survivors of the brothers were Morgan, Reid, and Jenny Parker. That was it. No one else ever lived to tell their tragic tale. The other three cases were all in neighboring states. It seemed like the guys just killed completely random people and moved on. It was one of the weirdest cases that Morgan ever heard of. Sarah's funeral was the day before Peter's was. It was overcast when they lowered her white casket into the ground, and her mother couldn't stop crying. She vowed that she would never stop searching for Anthony and Michael, and Morgan believed that.

Anthony and Michael weren't seen since their short stop at the gas station. Hotch promised he would keep Morgan updated on the chase, but they just disappeared. It didn't make any damn sense. How could two wanted felons just get away? Their pictures were everywhere, and Hotch made sure that the authorities in neighboring states were aware of the situation, but nobody found any trace of them. Garcia ran stills taken from the gas station security camera to find out who these men really were, but she couldn't find one thing. Nothing. No arrest record. No online articles. No social media. Nothing. Their faces didn't match up with anyone in the database. Everyone agreed that Anthony and Michael were most likely made up names. They could have been real brothers, but who the hell were they?

They weren't invited to Tatiana's funeral, but the Boyles insisted the entire BAU team when they said their last goodbyes to Peter. Mr. Boyle wanted everyone to be there, and so the morning of the funeral, the team went down to the services together. It was an open casket. Morgan wasn't looking forward to going, especially with the open casket. He didn't want any reminders of the hell they went through, but he owed it to Peter. Everyone was wearing black, and Morgan and Reid were still leaning on their crutches when it came time to stand. Morgan's arm was still wrapped in a cast, and the boy genius had to wear an arm sling to support his still healing shoulder blade. Reid was looking a lot better than when he first saw the kid in the hospital bed that looked way too big for his thin frame. He was getting color back in his cheeks, and he used his hair to cover up the stitches on the side of his head. Both of them had to go through required visits with a psychologist which was supposed to help prevent any PTSD or drug abuse from the pain medications. Morgan kept a close eye on Reid, but the kid never asked for extra medicine. He was probably using even less than he should have. Morgan never asked him about it and Reid never offered an explanation so it was left at that. Morgan trusted Reid. He trusted Reid with his life, and so he believed that if pretty boy needed help, he would ask.

The Boyles sat in the first row. Mr. Boyle still looked like he was in a state of shock, but his wife was just sobbing. Little Clara sat next to them. She brought her doll with her, and she was still holding onto the teddy bear that Garcia gave her. She was wearing a black dress with matching tights and shoes. The doll was even wearing a black dress. A few cousins and uncles showed up as well several teachers and students that went to Peter's college. Peter was dressed in a black suit with a tie, and his little sister stuck several photographs and drawings that she made for Peter underneath his pillow. His hands were crossed together with a rosary placed on top of them, and Morgan felt sick when he saw the missing finger. The mortician did an amazing job hiding the fatal wound to Peter's neck. It was almost impossible to see it, but Morgan knew it was there. The boy didn't look like himself. There was always something about dead bodies that hid the personalities they once had. It was just a shell of their former selves. Peter looked more like a mannequin than the smart boy Morgan met a week ago who did everything he could to help. He had thick powder on his skin to hide the signs of his murder, and his body looked stiff. Peter tried so hard to fight back against his attackers, and he could have survived the night if Morgan never asked him to leave the den. No matter what anyone else told him, Morgan was always going to blame himself for Peter's death.

Everyone had to hold umbrellas when it was time to go outside for the burial. Rossi held the umbrella up for himself and Morgan while J.J. held the umbrella up for herself and Reid. It wasn't a heavy downfall, but the rain did come down steady. Hotch put a bouquet of red roses by Peter's face before the casket was closed, and Reid started crying. J.J. held him close to her in a hug, and Morgan almost lost it too when the casket was lowered. The priest said some parting words, and the guests were invited to throw a white rose on the top of the casket. His parents threw down the first flowers, and Mr. Boyle almost had to carry his wife back inside. Morgan felt terrible. The woman was shaking, and she might have jumped in the plot herself if her husband wasn't holding her back. Family and friends threw their flowers in next. Clara found Garcia standing near the team, and asked Garcia to help her with the rose. Garcia seemed more than happy to help, and Clara held Garcia's hand tightly as they walked towards the cars. It looked like Garcia found a new best friend. Morgan was happy that the little girl found someone she could trust, but Morgan wished it wasn't under these circumstances.

Morgan and Reid were the last ones to say their goodbyes to the quiet boy they met in the den. Reid found a way to hold up the umbrella for both of them, but J.J. was waiting nearby for when they needed to walk. She knew they needed their privacy for the final goodbye. They just looked at the casket for about five minutes. The raindrops falling were all the noise they needed. Morgan stepped up next to Reid. The kid was still crying over his lost friend. Morgan felt terrible.

"What are you thinking?" Morgan asked him. He didn't need to ask though. He knew exactly what was going through Reid's mind.

"That Peter shouldn't be down there. That if I didn't let him go off by himself, he would still be here. His family needed him."

"What happened was a terrible accident, and after the attack, his clock was ticking. There wasn't anything else you could do. The coroner told you that too. He was either going to bleed to death or those assholes would have tried to hurt him more. You did the right thing," Morgan said.

Reid nodded. "I'm glad Peter's sister found Garcia. I think she wanted to sit next to Garcia during the service too. She kept turning around."

Morgan couldn't agree more. Clara needed an adult that she could trust other than her grieving parents, and she found that adult in Garcia. Morgan kept a brave face for the first time he met Peter's younger sister. Every time he saw her, he couldn't help but think back to Peter and how hard he fought to survive and how he was partly to blame. Clara never mentioned that though. Not even once. She eagerly showed Morgan and the rest of the team photos of her and Peter during their short time together. Morgan didn't know if she was still in a state of denial that she was never going to see Peter again, but she cried a lot less than her parents. She invited Garcia over sometime later to see the rest of her dolls, and Garcia accepted. Clara couldn't have chosen a better idol. Garcia was one of the best people that Morgan knew.

"She's sleeps with that teddy that Garcia gave her every night," Morgan said. Garcia probably had no idea what a difference that she already made in the life of this child. "Peter would have liked Garcia too. She's really a people person."

"He would have wanted us to look after his little sister," Reid said looking down at the casket. "Are we ever going to catch up to Anthony and Michael?"

"You know we are going to," Morgan said. "They can't hide from us forever, and the sheriff still has men looking for them day and night. Their time is running out. Don't worry."

"I know," Reid said. He looked like he was about to start crying again. Morgan couldn't figure out if Reid took Peter's death worse than his own rape, but it was starting to seem like that. Reid was sensitive, but he was strong. He was strong, and he was going to get through this.

"Ready Spence?" J.J. called out. She stayed where she was standing. She didn't want to interrupt if they were having a moment, but that moment was over.

"Coming," Reid said. Reid tossed his rose into Peter's grave. "Goodbye Peter. Goodbye," Reid whispered. Reid turned around, and walked over to the cars with J.J. by his side.

Morgan wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. He didn't feel like it anyway. It wasn't going to feel like a real goodbye until the men who did this to Peter and Reid were caught. Morgan closed his eyes and felt a cool breeze go over his face. Jenny was going to be alright. Reid was going to be alright, and so was Morgan. He just needed to trust that justice was going to be served, and he would be there the damn second Anthony and Michael were arrested. He would be there throughout the trials, and he would make sure they were prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Morgan pulled a card out that he bought for Peter, and he threw the card and his rose on top of the others. The rain was coming for a stop, but it didn't matter much if the rain ruined the card. He was sure Peter already knew what it said. "We're going to find those monsters that did this to you," Morgan vowed. "This isn't the end. I'm just so sorry kid. I really am. You didn't deserve any of this crap. I'm so sorry. Your sister is safe. We'll make sure nothing happens to her, but I'm sure you're watching her too." Morgan felt his eyes swelling with tears. Nobody was around to watch, and he didn't try to stop them from falling. He needed this. "I'm so sorry Peter. I'm never going to forget you kid. Goodbye."

Morgan turned around quickly. If he didn't, he could have stayed there all day with the kid that he barely got the chance to know. He used his crutches to get across the wet grass, and he didn't turn back. He wouldn't. He couldn't. Morgan and Reid couldn't go back out on the field until they were fully healed, but the team wasn't taking other cases right now. They were still actively looking for Anthony and Michael. Morgan didn't know how much longer they would be able to keep looking, but Morgan wasn't giving up. This wasn't over. This wasn't over by a long shot.

 _thank u 2 everyone who has stuck with me this long. been quite a ride with this story, and I'm going 2 miss it. I hope u guys all enjoyed it too. it was fun to write and I'm gonna bet ill keep writing till the day I die. plz review and lemme know ur thoughts guys. I read every review I get and they make me super happy to read. till next time xoxoxoxo_


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